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If you are rich enough to think buying kidneys makes sense, I implore you to advocate for better health care which improves the odds of keeping your own origina

If you are rich enough to think buying kidneys makes sense, I implore you to advocate for better health care which improves the odds of keeping your own original equipment from the manufacturer functioning adequately. Transplant is not all upside. You remain on drugs for life. You may die anyway if your body rejects the transplant. I see a lot of pro-transplant headlines on HN. People don't seem to want to hear any criticism of organ transplants. But I think organ transplants are "ooh, shiny tech" that makes for good headlines not actually good medicine. I think good medicine would fix you, not turn you into Frankenstein so doctors can feel powerful. Keeping people healthy is boring, doesn't really get tracked, no one cares. Letting their lives go to hell and then "saving" them makes for good headlines. I have a condition that accounts for a lot of organ transplants. I would rather keep my own organs functioning. All of HN loathes me for having that opinion. But if you think you are at risk of "needing" a transplant and have resources, I encourage you to actively look for other solutions to advocate for. We mostly don't hear the horror stories about transplant. If that got more publicity, maybe people wouldn't be so quick to act like I'm some kind of nutter for having opinions about the topic.

lazyasciiart 3y ago
> If you are rich enough to think buying kidneys makes sense, I implore you to advocate for better health care which improves the odds of keeping your own original equipment from the manufacturer functioning adequately. Congratulations on having a condition that gives you some control over whether you need an organ transplant in the future. I assume that nobody on HN cares whether you keep your own organs functioning, and nobody thinks you are a nutter just for "having opinions about the topic": they object to your declaration that they should prioritize not needing an organ transplant because of your values and the circumstances of your own life. > Keeping people healthy is boring, doesn't really get tracked, no one cares. That's a fun contrarian statement too. If only there was ever anything written about preventative health care and lifestyle improvements. Maybe you can publish the first book on it!
- DoreenMichele 3y ago
  Congratulations on having a condition that gives you some control over whether you need an organ transplant in the future. I'm not supposed to have any such control. I exercised it anyway, thus my opinions. I don't expect anyone to care about me or my opinions or my agenda and I don't know what the PC language is for this. There seems to be none. But "more access to transplants" isn't your only option if you are thinking long term about your own health issues.
intuitionist 3y ago
> If you are rich enough to think buying kidneys makes sense, Again: when serious people (i.e. not a bunch of stoned Silicon Valley überlibertarians at Burning Man) discuss this topic it’s generally assumed that the government is the sole buyer of live organ donations. The United States is certainly rich enough to make it work—indeed, it already covers a huge percentage of dialysis in the country via the Medicare ESRD program. Anyway, I’m not a doctor but I don’t think it’s especially controversial that some people today will die without a kidney transplant, and it’s a bit too late for preventative efforts for them. Personally I would rather they have the option to get a new kidney rather than tell them “sorry, we don’t want to play God and turn you into a Frankenstein.” But maybe I’m too rich to understand.
- DoreenMichele 3y ago
  For the record, I have never once advocated for denying anyone transplant nor do I understand why people act like that's a reasonable interpretation of things I say. All I'm saying is I would like to see more effort put into preserving our original organs and I feel the emphasis on how "cool" organ transplantation is actively undermines that. I'm not "against" organ transplants. I'm for trying harder to help people keep their original organs healthy and functional. There is a difference -- a quite large difference -- and I never said anything about "playing God." I'm not religious. I don't generally use such phrases because that's not really part of my world view.

lazyasciiart 3y ago

> If you are rich enough to think buying kidneys makes sense, I implore you to advocate for better health care which improves the odds of keeping your own original equipment from the manufacturer functioning adequately. Congratulations on having a condition that gives you some control over whether you need an organ transplant in the future. I assume that nobody on HN cares whether you keep your own organs functioning, and nobody thinks you are a nutter just for "having opinions about the topic": they object to your declaration that they should prioritize not needing an organ transplant because of your values and the circumstances of your own life. > Keeping people healthy is boring, doesn't really get tracked, no one cares. That's a fun contrarian statement too. If only there was ever anything written about preventative health care and lifestyle improvements. Maybe you can publish the first book on it!

DoreenMichele 3y ago
Congratulations on having a condition that gives you some control over whether you need an organ transplant in the future. I'm not supposed to have any such control. I exercised it anyway, thus my opinions. I don't expect anyone to care about me or my opinions or my agenda and I don't know what the PC language is for this. There seems to be none. But "more access to transplants" isn't your only option if you are thinking long term about your own health issues.

intuitionist 3y ago

> If you are rich enough to think buying kidneys makes sense, Again: when serious people (i.e. not a bunch of stoned Silicon Valley überlibertarians at Burning Man) discuss this topic it’s generally assumed that the government is the sole buyer of live organ donations. The United States is certainly rich enough to make it work—indeed, it already covers a huge percentage of dialysis in the country via the Medicare ESRD program. Anyway, I’m not a doctor but I don’t think it’s especially controversial that some people today will die without a kidney transplant, and it’s a bit too late for preventative efforts for them. Personally I would rather they have the option to get a new kidney rather than tell them “sorry, we don’t want to play God and turn you into a Frankenstein.” But maybe I’m too rich to understand.

DoreenMichele 3y ago
For the record, I have never once advocated for denying anyone transplant nor do I understand why people act like that's a reasonable interpretation of things I say. All I'm saying is I would like to see more effort put into preserving our original organs and I feel the emphasis on how "cool" organ transplantation is actively undermines that. I'm not "against" organ transplants. I'm for trying harder to help people keep their original organs healthy and functional. There is a difference -- a quite large difference -- and I never said anything about "playing God." I'm not religious. I don't generally use such phrases because that's not really part of my world view.