Hospital Approves Web-Arranged Transplant

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

article from psna e-newsletter:

hospital approves web-arranged transplant

denver, colorado (reuters) -- a denver hospital abruptly changed course on tuesday and agreed to perform a kidney transplant that would be the first such procedure in the united states using an organ found on a private web site.

moments before the operation was to take place on monday, the surgeon told patient bob hickey that he could not go forward because hickey had identified the living kidney donor on matchingdonors.com, a private service not endorsed by the u.s. government.

hickey, of edwards, colorado, paid $297 a month to be on the list.

hickey accused the hospital of torturing him and said the surgeon, dr. igal kam, was "accusing my donor and i of conspiring somehow for me to pay him under the table."

"it's absolutely not true. we've been totally above board," he told reuters.

but by tuesday evening, presbyterian/st. luke's medical center said it would make a compassionate exception and allow the surgery to go forward on wednesday morning.

"this has been an emotional roller coaster," hickey told reuters by telephone after learning he would get his new kidney.

his saga highlights the plight of some 80,000 americans who are waiting for an organ transplant. there is growing pressure to bypass the official united network of organ sharing and use private services such as the massachusetts-based web site instead.

medical ethics specialists said going around normal channels for organs poses risks.

read the entire article reported by cnn.