A kidney donor at 18 who is now a medical student feels he didn't give sufficiently informed consent (and some reactions)

Here's the story in the Washington Post: At 18 years old, he donated a kidney. Now, he regrets it.

"Five years after the surgery, when I was 23 and getting ready to go to medical school, I began working in a research lab that was looking at kidney donors who had gone on to develop kidney failure. For that research, I talked to more than 100 such donors. In some cases, the remaining kidneys failed; in others, the organ became injured or developed cancer. The more I learned, the more nervous I became about the logic of my decision at age 18 to donate.

"And then in 2014, a study looking at long-term risks for kidney donors found that they had a greater risk of developing end-stage renal disease. Another study that same year raised the possibility that they may face a heightened risk of dying of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality (although this point remains controversial).

"Other studies and surveys, though, suggest that the risk, while greater, isstill fairly small.

"The truth is, it is hard to get good numbers about what happens to donors. Hospitals are required to follow them for only two years post-donation, which does not catch such long-term complications as chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular issues or psychiatric issues. There is no national registry for kidney donors or other large-scale means of tracking long-term outcomes."

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Here are some responses posted on Trio (TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION)

Response to living kidney donation regret Washington Post news story

CATEGORIES // General Interest, UNOS News

A recent news story appearing in the Washington Post talked about an 18 year old living kidney donor's concerns and regret for that donation.  In a response to that, TRIO board member, Josh Morrison, offers his own thoughts on that concern based on his altruistic living kidney donation.  Photo is of Josh and his unrelated recipient, John, whose story is shared in Josh's article linked below (along with a link to the original 'regret' story).

RELATED ARTICLES

• The original 'concern &regret' Washington Post story
• Josh's response article  (Almost all kidney donors are proud, like me. So why did one negative story go viral? Updated by Josh Morrison Oct 11, 2016
• Letter to the Editor by another 'no regrets' living donor  (I donated a kidney. I have no regrets.)

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Here's a different take on nondirected donation (and the resulting chains...)

These six people donated their kidneys to complete strangers and saved 140 lives in the process — here’s why