Nov 09, 2007 08:00 ET
A Father's Experience With Daughter in Need of Transplant Leads to National Kidney Registry to Facilitate Living Donor Kidney Transplants
BABYLON, NY--(Marketwire - November 9, 2007) - When Garet Hil's youngest daughter was ten years old, her kidneys unexpectedly failed. With the same blood type and after passing the required medical tests, Hil was scheduled for surgery to donate his kidney. 36 hours prior to surgery he learned that he had failed a final cross match test and could not donate. Fortunately, after an extensive donor search, Garet's nephew passed all the tests and donated his kidney on July 12th. Both his nephew and his daughter are doing well.
As Hil immersed himself in the complexities and challenges facing incompatible kidney donors, he thought there must be a better way. He was amazed that a national registry to facilitate living donor kidney transplants did not exist. After his daughter's successful transplant, he recruited a world class medical and advisory board and formed the National Kidney Registry. The idea was simple: bring together incompatible or poorly matched donors and recipients in a national pool to facilitate kidney exchanges. The result is not only more transplants, but better matching kidneys that will function longer in the recipient.
In just two months, the organization has raised $170,000 from 112 Benefactors. Founder Garet Hil hopes that "with enough financial support, we will be able to facilitate over 100 living donor transplants next year." Seven transplants are already planned for early 2008.
Meanwhile, over 180 people have contacted the start-up organization in its first two months, most seeking to donate a kidney. "It is truly amazing how many wonderful, courageous people there are in this country who are willing to sacrifice their time and go through major surgery to help another person. These people are incredible and are making a real difference," said Hil.
For more information about making a financial donation or becoming a living donor, contact the National Kidney Registry at 1-800-936-1627 or visit its website at www.kidneyregistry.org.
The National Kidney Registry
The National Kidney Registry is a nonprofit 501C3 organization registered under the laws of the State of New York. The mission of the National Kidney Registry is to save and improve the lives of people facing kidney failure by increasing the quality, speed, and number of living donor transplants in the world
Promoting Organ Donations the Gift of Life
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Pastors try to raise support for organ donations
Pastors try to raise support for organ donations
By ASHLEY PHILLIPS
Gazette Staff Writer
Across the country, 98,000 people anxiously await their turn for a life-saving organ transplant. Unfortunately, 18 die each day because the necessary organs were not available.
Saving life after life can be applied to some community churches that are encouraging their members to be organ and tissue donors.
Local churches, such as First United Methodist, Tyler Memorial, Andersonville United Methodist and Chillicothe Baptist, are all participating in the National Donor Sabbath this weekend in an effort to educate Ohioans.
"We encourage folks to give the gifts of organs for life," said Pastor Charles Chase, of First United Methodist Church.
During the weekend of Nov. 9 to 11, nearly 260 religious organization throughout central and southeastern Ohio will address the issue.
"Our church recognizes the life benefit of being a donor, just like Christ gave his life for us,"said Pastor Christine Case of Anderson United Methodist Church.
The national awareness event is for religious leaders to show their support for organ and tissue donation. It began in 1994 to dispel the common myth that religions do not allow or support donations.
"We have been participating for years in the organ and tissue donation and we do remind our members about being an organ donor," said Pastor Jim Groves of Tyler Memorial Church.
"We've been bringing attention to this cause for several years, and we've been a participant for years as well," said Pastor Case of First United Methodist Church.
Religious leaders in Ohio will send the message to their congregation through material by Lifeline of Ohio, the organ procurement organization serving central and southeastern Ohio. These include educational brochures, donor memorials, quilt displays, donate life bookmarks and bulletin inserts.
(Phillips can be reached at 772-9376 or via e-mail at phillips@nncogannett.com
By ASHLEY PHILLIPS
Gazette Staff Writer
Across the country, 98,000 people anxiously await their turn for a life-saving organ transplant. Unfortunately, 18 die each day because the necessary organs were not available.
Saving life after life can be applied to some community churches that are encouraging their members to be organ and tissue donors.
Local churches, such as First United Methodist, Tyler Memorial, Andersonville United Methodist and Chillicothe Baptist, are all participating in the National Donor Sabbath this weekend in an effort to educate Ohioans.
"We encourage folks to give the gifts of organs for life," said Pastor Charles Chase, of First United Methodist Church.
During the weekend of Nov. 9 to 11, nearly 260 religious organization throughout central and southeastern Ohio will address the issue.
"Our church recognizes the life benefit of being a donor, just like Christ gave his life for us,"said Pastor Christine Case of Anderson United Methodist Church.
The national awareness event is for religious leaders to show their support for organ and tissue donation. It began in 1994 to dispel the common myth that religions do not allow or support donations.
"We have been participating for years in the organ and tissue donation and we do remind our members about being an organ donor," said Pastor Jim Groves of Tyler Memorial Church.
"We've been bringing attention to this cause for several years, and we've been a participant for years as well," said Pastor Case of First United Methodist Church.
Religious leaders in Ohio will send the message to their congregation through material by Lifeline of Ohio, the organ procurement organization serving central and southeastern Ohio. These include educational brochures, donor memorials, quilt displays, donate life bookmarks and bulletin inserts.
(Phillips can be reached at 772-9376 or via e-mail at phillips@nncogannett.com
Friday, November 9, 2007
Whose Kidney Is It, Anyway?
Editor's Note: Steve Chapman is on vacation. The following column was originally published in June 2005.
Socialist and communist governments have nationalized all sorts of things: oil and gas fields, phone companies, steel mills, coal mines, airlines and farms. Now the American Medical Association, which generally does not favor collective ownership of the means of production, has proposed to go even further. It suggests nationalizing corpses.
The United States has a severe shortage of kidneys, livers, lungs and other human organs needed by patients awaiting transplants. The AMA thinks we might close the gap between supply and demand by confiscating body parts from people who no longer need them.
Today, you have to agree in advance to donate your organs in case of your untimely demise. In a system of "presumed consent," by contrast, you would automatically surrender them, unless you gave specific instructions to the contrary.
"Presumed consent" is a nice euphemism for something that falls well short of real consent. It's bad enough that the government expects to live off the sweat of your brow while you are among the living, or that it insists on collecting estate taxes when you have the misfortune to die. But now it's going to extract a literal pound of flesh before allowing you the peace of the grave?
No one denies that a problem exists. Nearly 90,000 people are on waiting lists to get transplants that can mean the difference between health and sickness, and even life and death. Every year, an estimated 7,000 or more patients who need organ transplants die without getting them. Clearly, something needs to be done.
The AMA says some other countries have boosted their organ donation rates through presumed consent laws. But David Kaserman, an Auburn University economist and co-author of the book "The U.S. Organ Procurement System: A Prescription for Reform," says that while countries with such laws do get more organ donations, "all the studies agree that it is not enough to solve the problem."
Americans and Europeans often have drastically different sensibilities. People in this country are not likely to react positively to the ghoulish notion that the government has presumptive title to their remains.
In many places, Americans don't even like the idea of being required to make a choice about organ donation.
When Virginia adopted a "mandated choice" policy, forcing people to decide whether to become organ donors, 24 percent simply refused to indicate a preference. In Texas, mandated choice was enacted — and then repealed after a backlash that reduced the supply of organs. Some people apparently get touchy when you're trying to talk them out of their vital parts.
If you want to induce people to provide something that other people want, there are basically three possible approaches. The first is to encourage them to do so out of the pure joy of helping others. That hasn't worked. The second is to take it from them, an approach that "presumed consent" uses. That probably won't be enough, either, and it has the added downside of infringing on personal autonomy.
The third is to appeal to their own self-interest — by paying them. People could sign contracts agreeing to donate any organs suitable for transplant when they die, with the money going to their heirs.
That option, however, is currently illegal. For some reason, the AMA and Congress are put off by the concept of letting people be compensated for giving up something valuable. But why? We have no problem with paying people to shed blood, sweat or tears. What's wrong with rewarding those who agree, upon death, to surrender body parts that others need?
Based on experiences elsewhere, this approach is bound to work. There is a thriving market in the United States to induce women to furnish ova for infertile couples: A recent ad in Stanford University's student newspaper offered female students $50,000 to share their eggs. For that matter, India has to contend with an illegal trade in kidneys sold by people who are still alive.
Right now, we're paying people zero to hand over their organs, and many of them are not tempted by the offer. At a modestly higher price — Kaserman figures less than $1,000 per organ — the number of volunteers would quickly rise to meet the demand.
We could try conscripting donors, as the AMA proposes. Judging from the record of history, though, humans respond far better to tangible rewards than to coercion. Some skeptics think organ donation is too noble a cause to leave to the market. But really, it's too important not to.
To find out more about Steve Chapman, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2005 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
Socialist and communist governments have nationalized all sorts of things: oil and gas fields, phone companies, steel mills, coal mines, airlines and farms. Now the American Medical Association, which generally does not favor collective ownership of the means of production, has proposed to go even further. It suggests nationalizing corpses.
The United States has a severe shortage of kidneys, livers, lungs and other human organs needed by patients awaiting transplants. The AMA thinks we might close the gap between supply and demand by confiscating body parts from people who no longer need them.
Today, you have to agree in advance to donate your organs in case of your untimely demise. In a system of "presumed consent," by contrast, you would automatically surrender them, unless you gave specific instructions to the contrary.
"Presumed consent" is a nice euphemism for something that falls well short of real consent. It's bad enough that the government expects to live off the sweat of your brow while you are among the living, or that it insists on collecting estate taxes when you have the misfortune to die. But now it's going to extract a literal pound of flesh before allowing you the peace of the grave?
No one denies that a problem exists. Nearly 90,000 people are on waiting lists to get transplants that can mean the difference between health and sickness, and even life and death. Every year, an estimated 7,000 or more patients who need organ transplants die without getting them. Clearly, something needs to be done.
The AMA says some other countries have boosted their organ donation rates through presumed consent laws. But David Kaserman, an Auburn University economist and co-author of the book "The U.S. Organ Procurement System: A Prescription for Reform," says that while countries with such laws do get more organ donations, "all the studies agree that it is not enough to solve the problem."
Americans and Europeans often have drastically different sensibilities. People in this country are not likely to react positively to the ghoulish notion that the government has presumptive title to their remains.
In many places, Americans don't even like the idea of being required to make a choice about organ donation.
When Virginia adopted a "mandated choice" policy, forcing people to decide whether to become organ donors, 24 percent simply refused to indicate a preference. In Texas, mandated choice was enacted — and then repealed after a backlash that reduced the supply of organs. Some people apparently get touchy when you're trying to talk them out of their vital parts.
If you want to induce people to provide something that other people want, there are basically three possible approaches. The first is to encourage them to do so out of the pure joy of helping others. That hasn't worked. The second is to take it from them, an approach that "presumed consent" uses. That probably won't be enough, either, and it has the added downside of infringing on personal autonomy.
The third is to appeal to their own self-interest — by paying them. People could sign contracts agreeing to donate any organs suitable for transplant when they die, with the money going to their heirs.
That option, however, is currently illegal. For some reason, the AMA and Congress are put off by the concept of letting people be compensated for giving up something valuable. But why? We have no problem with paying people to shed blood, sweat or tears. What's wrong with rewarding those who agree, upon death, to surrender body parts that others need?
Based on experiences elsewhere, this approach is bound to work. There is a thriving market in the United States to induce women to furnish ova for infertile couples: A recent ad in Stanford University's student newspaper offered female students $50,000 to share their eggs. For that matter, India has to contend with an illegal trade in kidneys sold by people who are still alive.
Right now, we're paying people zero to hand over their organs, and many of them are not tempted by the offer. At a modestly higher price — Kaserman figures less than $1,000 per organ — the number of volunteers would quickly rise to meet the demand.
We could try conscripting donors, as the AMA proposes. Judging from the record of history, though, humans respond far better to tangible rewards than to coercion. Some skeptics think organ donation is too noble a cause to leave to the market. But really, it's too important not to.
To find out more about Steve Chapman, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2005 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
UK, U of L compete for organ donors
UK, U of L compete for organ donors
Laura Wood
Issue date: 11/7/07 Section: Campus News
If UK and the University of Louisville did not have enough sports rivalries, a different competition has risen - one that could save hundreds of lives.
The two schools have joined with the Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates for its annual UK-U?of?L Gift of Life Challenge, which will run until the end of December. The school with the winning number of registered organ donors will receive a trophy at the UK-U?of?L basketball game Jan. 5.
In its seventh year, the Gift of Life Challenge was created to raise awareness on organ and tissue donation. Keeping college students in mind, KODA created a new donor registration procedure for students.
"We decided there needed to be a faster way to register, and also a registry that was in an actual system for verification," said Charlotte Long, public coordinator for KODA.
"In previous years, an organ donor was signified as having a drivers license with an orange sticker," she said. "There was no documentation of the agreement, and in many cases, an organ donor was disregarded because the license was not present."
Long and her colleagues devised an online registry (www.
donatelifeky.com) where people can access donation forms. Students who want to become an organ and tissue donor can fill out an online form at that Web site. To become an organ and tissue donor and contribute to the competition, students can fill out an online form and select "University of Kentucky - Gift of Life Challenge" under the reasons to become a donor.
Students can also sign up at the UK-University of Tennessee football game Nov. 24, where volunteers will set up a tent in the RV lot in front of the stadium to collect donor signatures.
KODA officials hope the friendly competition will boost organ donations and help save the lives of the thousands of Kentuckians waiting on transplants.
"This holiday season, what bigger gift could we share than the gift of life?" Long said.
E-mail news@kykernel.com
Laura Wood
Issue date: 11/7/07 Section: Campus News
If UK and the University of Louisville did not have enough sports rivalries, a different competition has risen - one that could save hundreds of lives.
The two schools have joined with the Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates for its annual UK-U?of?L Gift of Life Challenge, which will run until the end of December. The school with the winning number of registered organ donors will receive a trophy at the UK-U?of?L basketball game Jan. 5.
In its seventh year, the Gift of Life Challenge was created to raise awareness on organ and tissue donation. Keeping college students in mind, KODA created a new donor registration procedure for students.
"We decided there needed to be a faster way to register, and also a registry that was in an actual system for verification," said Charlotte Long, public coordinator for KODA.
"In previous years, an organ donor was signified as having a drivers license with an orange sticker," she said. "There was no documentation of the agreement, and in many cases, an organ donor was disregarded because the license was not present."
Long and her colleagues devised an online registry (www.
donatelifeky.com) where people can access donation forms. Students who want to become an organ and tissue donor can fill out an online form at that Web site. To become an organ and tissue donor and contribute to the competition, students can fill out an online form and select "University of Kentucky - Gift of Life Challenge" under the reasons to become a donor.
Students can also sign up at the UK-University of Tennessee football game Nov. 24, where volunteers will set up a tent in the RV lot in front of the stadium to collect donor signatures.
KODA officials hope the friendly competition will boost organ donations and help save the lives of the thousands of Kentuckians waiting on transplants.
"This holiday season, what bigger gift could we share than the gift of life?" Long said.
E-mail news@kykernel.com
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Astellas Advances Drugs For Prostate Cancer, Organ Transplants
Astellas Advances Drugs For Prostate Cancer, Organ Transplants
Nikkei English News - Nov. 08, 2007
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Astellas Pharma Inc. (4503) has moved into phase II clinical trials on two candidate drugs, a treatment for prostate cancer and a compliment to its immunosuppressant drug Prograf.
Phase II trials test the efficacy of candidate drug compounds. Astellas hopes to release the two drugs at an early date to further bolster sales in its main fields of urology and organ transplant.
The prostate cancer drug, known by its development number ASP3550, is an injection preparation that inhibits cancer cell proliferation by binding to GnRH receptors in the brain to reduce the secretion of male hormone. Developed by the Swiss company Ferring Pharmaceuticals, the drug does not cause a temporary spike in male hormone and a single injection lasts for a month.
The transplant drug can help dampen the immune response to prevent organ rejection. The compound works differently from its blockbuster immunosuppressant drug Prograf, so Astellas is developing it as a drug to be administered together with Prograf.
Known by the development number ASP0485, this drug is a chimeric protein developed using genetic engineering by U.S. company Biogen Idec. One end of the compound binds to T cells and the other end binds to NK cells. By bringing the NK cell near the T cell, the T cell cannot exchange information with other cells to trigger inflammation.
Tests this year will begin in North America and Europe on patients receiving kidney transplants.
Nikkei English News - Nov. 08, 2007
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Astellas Pharma Inc. (4503) has moved into phase II clinical trials on two candidate drugs, a treatment for prostate cancer and a compliment to its immunosuppressant drug Prograf.
Phase II trials test the efficacy of candidate drug compounds. Astellas hopes to release the two drugs at an early date to further bolster sales in its main fields of urology and organ transplant.
The prostate cancer drug, known by its development number ASP3550, is an injection preparation that inhibits cancer cell proliferation by binding to GnRH receptors in the brain to reduce the secretion of male hormone. Developed by the Swiss company Ferring Pharmaceuticals, the drug does not cause a temporary spike in male hormone and a single injection lasts for a month.
The transplant drug can help dampen the immune response to prevent organ rejection. The compound works differently from its blockbuster immunosuppressant drug Prograf, so Astellas is developing it as a drug to be administered together with Prograf.
Known by the development number ASP0485, this drug is a chimeric protein developed using genetic engineering by U.S. company Biogen Idec. One end of the compound binds to T cells and the other end binds to NK cells. By bringing the NK cell near the T cell, the T cell cannot exchange information with other cells to trigger inflammation.
Tests this year will begin in North America and Europe on patients receiving kidney transplants.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Many people file organ donation cards at SIUT
Many people file organ donation cards at SIUT
By By Imtiaz Ali
11/7/2007
Karachi
As many as 1,200 people have filed for the organ donation cards scheme launched by Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) to save lives of an estimated 50,000 people who die each year due to end-stage organ failure, said D. Bakhsh Ali, spokesman for SIUT. The donation scheme was launched during an international conference aimed at curbing commercialism in human organs and increasing legitimate donation activity.
Prominent among them who filed the donation cards are the famous philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, Chairman Karachi Stock Exchange Shaukat Tareen, President Hindu Panchayat Committee Lala Amar Nath, literary figures Anwar Maqsood, Zohra Nigah, Ardeshir Cowasjee and others.
“It is very noble effort and all citizens should support it whole-heartedly,” Shaukat Tareen told The News.
“I could not do much in my life to benefit others so I hope my death can be useful,” Anwar Maqsood said.
Anwar Maqsood was first person who filed the card. He said he told the SIUT people that which ever one of his organs is useful to anyone should be taken out after his death.
“To take part in any noble cause is our duty,” said Amar Nath, adding that members of the minority community also wanted to “show that they were also ready and willing to sacrifice their life for the Pakistani citizens.”
He pointed out that the former senior bureaucrat Ramesh Odeshi and diplomat Manghraj Bhatia also filed donation cards along with him.
“This (donation scheme) is a good effort and should have been launched 20 years ago,” said Ardeshir Cowasjee. He lamented the perceived insensitivity and lack of values in the country. “Had we been sensitive and cultured, it would not have taken 25 years to promulgate an ordinance of human organ transplantation,” he said. He appreciated the efforts of Dr Adib Rizvi, director SIUT, by saying that “he had worked hard” for bringing forward the law against trade of human organs.
Dr Ali said that around 50,000 people die each year because of organ failure. Among them, 15,000 patients suffered from kidney failure, 10,000 from liver and 6,500 suffered from heart failure.
The main reason in the majority of cases is believed to be lack of organ donors. He pointed out that kidney transplantation began in the country two decades ago and today, around 1,000 kidney transplants are performed annually, which is a small number as compared to the figure of 15,000 people who need a transplant.
Not every patient has a (living) relative who can be a potential kidney donor and many a times, the tissues do not match. The shortage of organs for renal transplantation has caused ‘transplant tourism’ in the country where over 1,000 transplants are performed in different centres at a cost of $10,000-15,000 and the tourists belong to Middle East, Europe, USA and Asia, particularly India.
Dr Ali said the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) will be upgraded to determine brain death. The SIUT regretted that a bill on the brain death law and transplantation has been in the Senate for the last 15 years, whose approval can provide legal support to deceased donor organ transplantations in the country.
By By Imtiaz Ali
11/7/2007
Karachi
As many as 1,200 people have filed for the organ donation cards scheme launched by Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) to save lives of an estimated 50,000 people who die each year due to end-stage organ failure, said D. Bakhsh Ali, spokesman for SIUT. The donation scheme was launched during an international conference aimed at curbing commercialism in human organs and increasing legitimate donation activity.
Prominent among them who filed the donation cards are the famous philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, Chairman Karachi Stock Exchange Shaukat Tareen, President Hindu Panchayat Committee Lala Amar Nath, literary figures Anwar Maqsood, Zohra Nigah, Ardeshir Cowasjee and others.
“It is very noble effort and all citizens should support it whole-heartedly,” Shaukat Tareen told The News.
“I could not do much in my life to benefit others so I hope my death can be useful,” Anwar Maqsood said.
Anwar Maqsood was first person who filed the card. He said he told the SIUT people that which ever one of his organs is useful to anyone should be taken out after his death.
“To take part in any noble cause is our duty,” said Amar Nath, adding that members of the minority community also wanted to “show that they were also ready and willing to sacrifice their life for the Pakistani citizens.”
He pointed out that the former senior bureaucrat Ramesh Odeshi and diplomat Manghraj Bhatia also filed donation cards along with him.
“This (donation scheme) is a good effort and should have been launched 20 years ago,” said Ardeshir Cowasjee. He lamented the perceived insensitivity and lack of values in the country. “Had we been sensitive and cultured, it would not have taken 25 years to promulgate an ordinance of human organ transplantation,” he said. He appreciated the efforts of Dr Adib Rizvi, director SIUT, by saying that “he had worked hard” for bringing forward the law against trade of human organs.
Dr Ali said that around 50,000 people die each year because of organ failure. Among them, 15,000 patients suffered from kidney failure, 10,000 from liver and 6,500 suffered from heart failure.
The main reason in the majority of cases is believed to be lack of organ donors. He pointed out that kidney transplantation began in the country two decades ago and today, around 1,000 kidney transplants are performed annually, which is a small number as compared to the figure of 15,000 people who need a transplant.
Not every patient has a (living) relative who can be a potential kidney donor and many a times, the tissues do not match. The shortage of organs for renal transplantation has caused ‘transplant tourism’ in the country where over 1,000 transplants are performed in different centres at a cost of $10,000-15,000 and the tourists belong to Middle East, Europe, USA and Asia, particularly India.
Dr Ali said the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) will be upgraded to determine brain death. The SIUT regretted that a bill on the brain death law and transplantation has been in the Senate for the last 15 years, whose approval can provide legal support to deceased donor organ transplantations in the country.
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