General+Information



Legal Vs. Illegal Kidney Transplants

 Legal Kidney Transplants Procedure: ** Kidney transplants may be transplanted from a living donor and are most successful 24-48 hours after being taken out of a donor (Harris, 2009). A patient will generally find a willing donor in a friend or family member. If the donor is a match, they can proceed directly to the surgery stage. In some cases, patients are put on a waiting list and must wait years before finding a match (Harris, 2009). To be included on the national waiting list, a patient must first find a transplant team that will treat him or her. The transplant team evaluates the patient to decide whether he or she is a good candidate for transplantation. Donated organs are a rare and precious commodity, so doctors do not want to proceed unless they are confident that a patient is physically and mentally prepared for the procedure, as well as life after the procedure (Harris, 2009). When a donor kidney is available, doctors run tests to verify organ compatibility. Once compatibility is verified, the patient is brought into surgery. The surgery takes approximately 2 to 4 hours. The donor kidney is attached to the bladder and blood vessels. Usually, the old kidneys are left in place. They are only removed if the old kidneys are infected or too large to allow the placement of the new kidney (Kivi, 2009). Risks/ Benefits: ** The risks that come with kidney transplants include: reactions to medications, and problems breathing. Surgery risks include bleeding, infection, and infection due to the immunosuppressive medications that must be taken to prevent transplant rejections. Another risk includes hyper-acute rejection, acute rejection, and chronic rejection of the donated kidney (Harris, 2009). Rejection may occur soon after the transplant or several months or years after the procedure has taken place. Rejection episodes are not uncommon in the first weeks after transplantation surgery, and are treated with high-dose injections of immunosuppressant drugs. If a rejection episode cannot be reversed and kidney failure continues, the patient will typically go back on dialysis. Another transplant procedure can be attempted at a later date if another kidney becomes available (Kivi, 2009). The benefits of kidney transplants include: saving lives and restoring the quality of life for those who have been sick. Kidney transplants eliminates the need for dialysis and helps patients enjoy a life filled with more freedom, energy and productivity. Lifespan increases by 10-15 years in patients that underwent successful kidney transplants (Rigg, 2007). Even with the expense and risks of taking drugs that suppress the immune system, recipients of donated kidneys generally have fewer expenses and fewer complications than kidney failure patients who stay on renal dialysis.

Individuals who received a transplant from a living donor has a 90 percent chance of being alive after 1 year and about an 80 percent chance of surviving for 5 years after the transplant. Success rates for transplants from deceased donors are lower, around 80 percent after 1 year, though that difference has been shrinking in recent years. However, more than 2,900 patients on the transplant waiting list died in 2001 (Harris, 2009).  
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 Illegal Kidney Transplants

Kidney transplant procedures are generally the same when it comes to the operating table however the surgeon is not always a qualified doctor. Obtaining a kidney differs from legal kidney transplants since wait lists are ignored and patients obtain kidneys through financial measures. Recipients may sell kidneys (mostly at a low cost), and in extreme cases kidneys are taken from individuals unwillingly. Patients are charged high prices for kidneys and are given a large amount of immunosuppressive drugs for kidney acceptance in the patient. Risks/Benefits: **  The risks that come along with illegal kidney transplants include: the compensation for donors increases the risk of introducing diseased kidney to recipients because these donors often yield from poorer populations unable to receive health care regularly and organ dealers may evade disease screening processes. The price for a kidney is generally very high and is usually obtained by the upper class as opposed to the middle/working class. Many of these illegal kidneys are obtained from unwilling donors who are paid a low price for their kidneys while the selling price is more than ten times the amount they got paid. Also, not all surgeons that conduct these kidney transplants are qualified surgeons, and many of these operations are held in unclean environments which may cause infection. The donors (willing or unwilling) are not always given proper after care, resulting in infection and in some cases death (Kidney Sales – India). The benefits with the use of illegal kidneys include: shorter waiting periods of the patient which potentially ensures a longer life. The donor also gets financial compensation which is a huge benefit since many of these donors are from developing countries (Kidney Sales – India). Success Rate: ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">The success rate of illegal kidney transplants are approximately 50% patient survival, compared to non-commercialized kidney transplants (Sajjad, 2008).
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