I'd Share My Last Organ With You
Wow. Here's a fairly unbelievable story:
Chicago Doctor Donates Kidney to Patient
CHICAGO -The case of a doctor who donated a kidney to one of her patients is raising new ethical questions about the doctor-patient relationship and organ donation.
For Dr. Susan Hou, donating a kidney was something she had thought about since her days in medical school where she had a friend with kidney disease.
"I can't bring about world peace, I can't eliminate world hunger, but I can get one person off dialysis," said Hou, 56, medical director of the renal transplant program at Loyola University Medical Center in suburban Chicago.
But medical ethicists, who say they know of no similar case in the United States, believe such a gift complicates the relationship between doctors and patients, and raises the issue of how a doctor decides which patient gets their life-saving gift.
The ethicists have a point here, but I'm mostly amazed by the altruism that could impel this doctor to this act of generosity. Still, one wonders what could happen in the future:
::Nurse Ratched voice:: "Are you taking your pills? Are you taking care of
our kidney?" And what if she threatens to take it back?
posted by Dr. Alice at #
