Organ Transplantation Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Organ Transplantation, including details on risks, prognosis, procedure, surgery.

Living donor kidney transplantation: medical, legal, and ethical considerations.

Paramesh AS, Killackey MT, Zhang R, Alper B, Slakey DP, Florman SS

Tulane Abdominal Transplant Institute, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112, USA. aparames@tulane.edu

The use of living donor kidneys has dramatically increased the number and success of kidney transplants across the world. But questions remain regarding the subjection of a healthy individual to surgery for the benefit of another. Donors do have medical and financial risks. The stigma of organ brokering remains today, with evidence of commercial transplantation in other countries. Here in the US, we are exposed to advertising for donors using the media. In the hope of increasing living donations, we run the risk of stretching altruism too far. In this manuscript, we highlight and discuss some of the current controversies surrounding living donor kidney transplantation across the world.

Published 19 December 2007 in South Med J, 100(12): 1208-13.
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