To: Dr Phil DYER,
Secretary to The British Transplant Society Ethics Committee,
Manchester Royal Infirmary.
Dear Mr Dyer,
I’ve read your article on the NKF website and as someone with a kidney condition that is slowly progressing I feel you should have a ‘patient’s’ perspective. My husband is willing to be a live donor for me and has passed the first hurdle of blood group compatibility. I am not yet on dialysis but would consider a living donor transplant from my husband as my first option for treatment rather than face dialysis if possible.
A living relative who is willing to donate will do that for their loved one and not for a stranger. It should not be forgotten that live donation involves risks for the donor and I would not ask my husband to face these risks for a stranger just so I could get a kidney in return. My husband would face the risks of live donation for me because he loves me and wants to help me. He carries a donor card as I do, although I am a rather limited potential donor because of my affected organs. Both of us find the concept of paired exchange donation repugnant.
The ethics committee should put its voice to helping to improve the standards of care for renal patients and also changing the system of organ donation. Both my husband and I feel it should be a case of accepted donation unless someone specifically opts out. This would increase the number of potential donors and render the concept you raised with the NKF redundant. It is also doubtful that, given the current state of the NHS, it would have the facilities or resources to cope with the numbers involved in such operations for paired exchange donations.
I hope my comments are useful.
Yours sincerely,
Caroline A. Morrell
The National Kidney Federation cannot accept responsibility for the views expressed by others in these letters pages.
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Last updated: 8 February 2008
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