Zoneboy
04-01-2009, 03:47 PM
Link (http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/04/01/television-viewers-offer-kidneys-to-natalie-cole/)
When it comes to getting a kidney transplant, being a celebrity may help.
In an appearance on CNN’s Larry King Live last night, singer Natalie Cole said both of her kidneys had failed due to Hepatitis C, and that she’s on dialysis three times a week as she waits for a donor on a long list of patients. As the show progressed, CNN received emails from “dozens” of people, as King described it, who were willing to be tested to see if they could donate a kidney to the Grammy-award winning daughter of singer Nat King Cole.
“There are some great human beings out there. That’s all I can say,” Cole said, according to CNN.
It’s not always so easy to give away a kidney, however. As a WSJ article from late 2007 explained, hospitals are often reluctant to perform transplants that involve donors who are strangers or have only distant relationships with the recipients.
For one, the kidney-transplant U.S. waiting list has nearly 80,000 people, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.
The list was set up to allocate organs fairly, targeting the neediest and best-matched patients first. Hospitals worry that donations from strangers, for instance via online matching sites, give an unfair advantage to certain recipients, such as those savvy enough to craft heart-stirring pleas. A celebrity, one might imagine, could fall into that sort of compelling category. Hospitals also worry about the mental stability of donors and whether they may secretly be selling their organs.
When it comes to getting a kidney transplant, being a celebrity may help.
In an appearance on CNN’s Larry King Live last night, singer Natalie Cole said both of her kidneys had failed due to Hepatitis C, and that she’s on dialysis three times a week as she waits for a donor on a long list of patients. As the show progressed, CNN received emails from “dozens” of people, as King described it, who were willing to be tested to see if they could donate a kidney to the Grammy-award winning daughter of singer Nat King Cole.
“There are some great human beings out there. That’s all I can say,” Cole said, according to CNN.
It’s not always so easy to give away a kidney, however. As a WSJ article from late 2007 explained, hospitals are often reluctant to perform transplants that involve donors who are strangers or have only distant relationships with the recipients.
For one, the kidney-transplant U.S. waiting list has nearly 80,000 people, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.
The list was set up to allocate organs fairly, targeting the neediest and best-matched patients first. Hospitals worry that donations from strangers, for instance via online matching sites, give an unfair advantage to certain recipients, such as those savvy enough to craft heart-stirring pleas. A celebrity, one might imagine, could fall into that sort of compelling category. Hospitals also worry about the mental stability of donors and whether they may secretly be selling their organs.