Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Kidney sales proposal in 1983, and the origin of the 1984 National Organ Transplant Act (history)

Dr. David Cohen at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center Renal and Pancreatic Transplant Program recently shared with me the 1983 letter, below, that was received at Presbyterian Hospital from Dr Barry Jacobs, who proposed to purchase kidneys for transplantation, and was looking to enlist partner hospitals.



You should be able to click on the letter to enlarge it. The stamp is a bulk mail stamp (for 10.9 cents), which suggests that this letter was sent to many hospitals.

The letter states that there were 70,000 Americans with end stage renal disease in 1983, and a shortage of organs. Today those numbers are much higher.

I notice that the name of the proposed venture was International Kidney Exchange, Ltd.  The name "kidney exchange" has of course since come to mean something very different--the in kind exchange of kidneys without any money changing hands--although it is also often called "kidney paired donation," perhaps out of a lingering repugnance to the name as well as the idea.

And below is a story that ran in the NY Times at the time. Apparently Dr. Jacobs was not a model citizen: prior to making this proposal his license had been revoked and he had spent time in prison. This may have helped to make his proposal repugnant, and it was outlawed the following year, in the 1984 NOTA, which stated in part:
"TITLE 111-PROHIBITION OF ORGAN PURCHASES
SEC. 301. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any human organ for valuable consideration for use in human transplantation if the transfer affects interstate commerce.
(b) Any person who violates subsection (a) shall be fined not more
than $50,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. "

The act has since been amended to read
(a) Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any human organ for valuable consideration for use in human transplantation if the transfer affects interstate commerce. The preceding sentence does not apply with respect to human organ paired donation.

Here's the NY Times story.

BUYING OF KIDNEYS OF POOR ATTACKED

No comments: