Posted on 01/18/2014 8:01:29 AM PST by rootin tootin
In 2012, 95,000 American men, women and children were on the waiting list for new kidneys, the most commonly transplanted organ. Yet only about 16,500 kidney transplant operations were performed that year ... For all the recent attention devoted to the health-care overhaul, the long and growing waiting times for tens of thousands of individuals who badly need organ transplants hasn't been addressed.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
“Just step back and think about this objectively. What you have in an organ donation process is an expensive, complex procedure involving hospitals and doctors who are performing surgery on one patient for the sole purpose of providing treatment to another patient whose identity probably isn’t even known at the time. It should come as no surprise that these procedures are fraught with legal and financial confusion.”
Like most Americans, we hadn’t given much thought to what you posted above. We will be cremated. So we felt, we could donate whatever was needed. Now, we are in the reality thinking stage and are saying no.
Thanks
It seems to me that the hospital should charge recipients at least enough money to cover the expenses of keeping a dead and, therefore, no longer insured person, functioning so as to keep the organs in good shape for transplant.
As to whether more should be charged, I certainly think so. But, a lot of people think only the doctors and lawyers should be paid money, that mere average people would be corrupted. I should think that covering up to the average funeral expense and/or forgiveness of the hospital charge immediately prior to death, might be a workable compromise. No cash to the donor’s family. Would help with the expenses of the deceased be too corrupting?
I would also want to explore whether harvesting organs of persons subject to execution for capital offenses could be arranged. The potential for corruption of the jury might be much more than a few dollars. I actually think capital punishment is too tricky to bring this into the picture. But, I am sure that people from states that don’t have the death penalty would complain if they didn’t get their fair share of any organs.
“One ER doctor admitted that issues related to harvesting organs were a major consideration in treatment options for trauma patients. Basically, he said that doctors won’t try quite as hard to save your life in some circumstances if they think the benefits of harvesting your organs outweigh the time, the cost and the odds of survival if they render treatment to fix catastrophic injuries.”
As you noted in your first reply, this is really a grey area re treatment, morality and ethics for doctors, nurses and other health care employees.
Thanks for your response and ideas.
This is really a complex area, which hasn’t been discussed at the pre donor level.
We see the PSA ads on TV re the benefits and humanity of donating our organs and body parts. Nothing is ever discussed re what we are now discussing.
“Very quickly, his widow got a big financial surprise, the hospital had close to $40,000’s of EOL hospital services for the time his body was kept alive for the harvest of his whatevers.”
Thanks for the information...I never even dreamed this could happen, but I sure won’t let it happen to me.
Monday I’ll contact the DMV to remove the organ donor notification from my licence.
We have been told the same thing by ER Nurses/Techs and a couple of ER docs since we went to the meeting I described.
A retired CHP officer told us privately, the same. We thought that he was a little paranoid at the time, re big money can bend a lot of morality from the cop/EMT level to the hosipital.
I do think it's paranoid. People already have the right to sell their blood, and that has not resulted in any of the problems that some have feared. So I don't think it'll happen with the sales of other organs either.
Its all sickening...as well as most all of the mind altering drugs that doctors promote and their crazy sex change operations. I say, if someone has screwed their bodies so much, pray and ask for a healing and repentance, instead of asking a doctor to save you!
Check with your local hospital re what happens re the costs.
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