4 ms·

both my complaints would still apply: I still want a provable control mechanism to measure the influence of organ donor status (donating or not, rich or poor,

both my complaints would still apply: I still want a provable control mechanism to measure the influence of organ donor status (donating or not, rich or poor, etc) on donor death rate (if this is happening this would typically not be just for one organ, but for multiple; and the value of the organs would have to exceed the costs from the perpetrator perspective: value from acceptors, from research on tissues, from educational value of the body parts, saved future costs of the donor on the health care system, ...). Think of it this way: if there was a mathematically provable mechanism in play to prevent this in an open, reproducible and public fashion, there would be more people open to donating their organs after death. Just as for the genital case, if a person had a hand transplant and exclaimed the finality of his joy without first assessing the result (do I still have the same dexterity? if my sensation is measured with an ABX test, do I provably feel as finely details in texture of objects? do I have full motor control?) then yes I would make the exact same complaint.

DoreenMichele 9y ago
I don't think your concerns are invalid. I can't source it and it is not a study/statistics, but I did see a piece once on a Black American with a brain injury in a coma who was declared dead and then their organs were promptly harvested. The article suggested the patient could have recovered from their brain injury with proper care and that a well off white person with the same injury would have gotten the care they needed to recover instead of being declared dead and then essentially parted out. It's a pretty macabre scenario. It's a question most people don't want to ask. Organ transplants get hyped a lot as miraculous and entirely positive events. I used to belong to a number of cystic fibrosis lists. CF accounts for about a third of adult lung transplants and about half of all pediatric lung transplants in the US. I have seen plenty of discussions by family members, recipients or other concerned parties about things like being listed and waiting for a donor, as well as stories of people dying slowly from rejection. So I have thought long and hard about this and I have my misgivings about "heroic medicine," such as insanely expensive drugs (one new-ish CF drug costs about $250k-$300k annually) and organ transplants. The patient who received a new penis may not have gone through this, but one of the things that horrifies me about transplants is that, once you are listed, you essentially sit around hoping that a young, healthy person who is a tissue match dies tragically in the prime of their life in an accident so that you get a second shot at life. If your condition is deadly, you have been listed because you are basically dying. So you sit there hoping someone dies fairly soon. I can't imagine what that does to someone psychologically. However, my father and my ex were both career army. The military has a very long association with experimental medicine and this relationship is more responsible for medical advances than people realize. I'm extremely sympathetic to this story in part because he's a veteran. Returning to the question of studies, I do recall a blurb about Puerto Rico being a major source of organs for transplant. The article went into some of the reasons for that, though I don't recall any of the details. You could try looking for info on that angle and see where it leads you.
- AnimalMuppet 9y ago
  > ... one of the things that horrifies me about transplants is that, once you are listed, you essentially sit around hoping that a young, healthy person who is a tissue match dies tragically in the prime of their life in an accident so that you get a second shot at life. I've thought about this some, because I carry a donor card. I have read an account of someone who had been waiting for transplant (kidney, if I recall correctly). The call comes, she and her husband are driving two hours to where the operation will be, they're all happy... and then it hits her: Someone had to die for her to get that kidney. But from my (abstract) perspective as a (potential) donor, I'm dead anyway. You might as well take my parts, because I don't need them any more. Whoever I am, I'm already gone, and I'm not coming back. So take my parts with my blessing, and don't feel guilty about it. Use them in good health and long life. I have seriously thought about writing a letter to organ recipients, stating all this, but I don't know if my family would be allowed to give it to them...
  - DoreenMichele 9y ago
    Without getting this too far afield into religion, philosophy and psychology, some people believe that prayer et al can influence outcomes and many people feel incredibly guilt ridden about hoping for certain kinds of outcomes, no matter how irrational you may feel that is. Thank you for being a donor. I am not against organ transplants. I just wish there was more emphasis placed on more prosaic, less "heroic" solutions to certain problems. Edit: Please look into whether or not they would be willing to give such a letter to a recipient and, if so, how that could be arranged.

DoreenMichele 9y ago

I don't think your concerns are invalid. I can't source it and it is not a study/statistics, but I did see a piece once on a Black American with a brain injury in a coma who was declared dead and then their organs were promptly harvested. The article suggested the patient could have recovered from their brain injury with proper care and that a well off white person with the same injury would have gotten the care they needed to recover instead of being declared dead and then essentially parted out. It's a pretty macabre scenario. It's a question most people don't want to ask. Organ transplants get hyped a lot as miraculous and entirely positive events. I used to belong to a number of cystic fibrosis lists. CF accounts for about a third of adult lung transplants and about half of all pediatric lung transplants in the US. I have seen plenty of discussions by family members, recipients or other concerned parties about things like being listed and waiting for a donor, as well as stories of people dying slowly from rejection. So I have thought long and hard about this and I have my misgivings about "heroic medicine," such as insanely expensive drugs (one new-ish CF drug costs about $250k-$300k annually) and organ transplants. The patient who received a new penis may not have gone through this, but one of the things that horrifies me about transplants is that, once you are listed, you essentially sit around hoping that a young, healthy person who is a tissue match dies tragically in the prime of their life in an accident so that you get a second shot at life. If your condition is deadly, you have been listed because you are basically dying. So you sit there hoping someone dies fairly soon. I can't imagine what that does to someone psychologically. However, my father and my ex were both career army. The military has a very long association with experimental medicine and this relationship is more responsible for medical advances than people realize. I'm extremely sympathetic to this story in part because he's a veteran. Returning to the question of studies, I do recall a blurb about Puerto Rico being a major source of organs for transplant. The article went into some of the reasons for that, though I don't recall any of the details. You could try looking for info on that angle and see where it leads you.

AnimalMuppet 9y ago
> ... one of the things that horrifies me about transplants is that, once you are listed, you essentially sit around hoping that a young, healthy person who is a tissue match dies tragically in the prime of their life in an accident so that you get a second shot at life. I've thought about this some, because I carry a donor card. I have read an account of someone who had been waiting for transplant (kidney, if I recall correctly). The call comes, she and her husband are driving two hours to where the operation will be, they're all happy... and then it hits her: Someone had to die for her to get that kidney. But from my (abstract) perspective as a (potential) donor, I'm dead anyway. You might as well take my parts, because I don't need them any more. Whoever I am, I'm already gone, and I'm not coming back. So take my parts with my blessing, and don't feel guilty about it. Use them in good health and long life. I have seriously thought about writing a letter to organ recipients, stating all this, but I don't know if my family would be allowed to give it to them...
- DoreenMichele 9y ago
  Without getting this too far afield into religion, philosophy and psychology, some people believe that prayer et al can influence outcomes and many people feel incredibly guilt ridden about hoping for certain kinds of outcomes, no matter how irrational you may feel that is. Thank you for being a donor. I am not against organ transplants. I just wish there was more emphasis placed on more prosaic, less "heroic" solutions to certain problems. Edit: Please look into whether or not they would be willing to give such a letter to a recipient and, if so, how that could be arranged.