It's a new year, and maybe there will be progress in increasing organ donation. Here's a video in which Elaine Perlman explains the End Kidney Deaths Act, which might be debated by Congress this year, and would be an attempt to increase living donation by allowing some compensation (in the form of tax credits) for kidney donation. And there are a slew of articles in medical journals (of which I sample two) saying that the first and most important rule of organ transplantation is that donors should not be compensated (and that the same goes for other SoHOs (Substances of Human Origin) such as blood plasma.
"Passing the End Kidney Deaths Act isn’t just an ethical decision—it’s a practical solution to one of the most pressing public health challenges in America.
100,000 Americans are counting on us to get the End Kidney Deaths Act to the finish line. The choice is clear and 2025 is our year. Let’s contact Congress now to pass the End Kidney Deaths Act and ensure a future where no one dies while waiting for a kidney. Because saving lives is not only ethical—it’s our responsibility."
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And here are two articles reaffirming their opposition:
Promoting Equitable and Affordable Patient Access to Safe and Effective Innovations in Donation and Transplantation of Substances of Human Origin and Derived Therapies
Cuende, Natividad MD, MPH, PhD1; Tullius, Stefan G. MD, PhD2; Izeta, Ander PhD3; Plattner, Verena PhD4; Börgel, MSc, Martin5; Ciccocioppo, Rachele MD6; Correa-Rocha, Rafael PhD7; Koh, Mickey B. C. MD, PhD8,9; De Angelis, Vincenzo MD10; Gondolesi, Gabriel E. MD, MAAC11; ten Ham, Renske PhD, PharmD12; Porte, Robert J. MD, PhD13; Hernández-Maraver, Dolores MD, PhD14; Hawthorne, Wayne J. MD, PhD15; Sureda, Anna MD, PhD16; Orlando, Giuseppe MD, PhD17; Haraldsson, Börje MD, PhD18; Ascher, Nancy L. MD, PhD19; Dominguez-Gil, Beatriz MD, PhD14; Oniscu, Gabriel C. MBChB, MD20
Author Information
Transplantation 109(1):p 36-47, January 2025. | DOI: 10.1097/TP.0000000000005169
Note which ethical principle is at the top of the list.
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And this report speaks of global kidney exchange, but not for the poor...
Expanding Opportunities for Living Donation: Recommendations From the 2023 Santander Summit to Ensure Donor Protections, Informed Decision Making, and Equitable Access, by
Lentine, Krista L. MD, PhD1; Waterman, Amy D. PhD2; Cooper, Matthew MD3; Nagral, Sanjay MS, FACS4; Gardiner, Dale MD5; Spiro, Michael MBBS6; Rela, Mohamed MS, FRCS, DSc7; Danovitch, Gabriel MD8; Watson, Christopher J. E. MD9; Thomson, David MD10; Van Assche, Kristof PhD11; Torres, Martín MD, MS12; Domínguez-Gil, Beatriz MD, PhD13; Delmonico, Francis L. MD14; On behalf of the Donation Workgroup Collaborators*
Transplantation 109(1):p 22-35, January 2025. | DOI: 10.1097/TP.0000000000005124
"International KPE is acceptable if the donor-recipient pairs belong to a similar sociodemographic reality and are properly covered and protected by healthcare systems. GKE that exploits financial inequalities between pairs (or countries) must be prohibited."
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