By Kaitlyn Schaeffer Twenty-three million Americans suffer from chronic kidney disease, and of these, 615,000 have reached end stage renal failure. More than 100,000 patients are waiting for a deceased organ transplant; however, based on recent UNOS data, only 16,000 of them can expect to receive a donor kidney. The current organ shortage means those [...]
October 2014 Newsletter Global Bioethics Initiative (GBI) is dedicated to fostering public awareness and understanding of bioethical issues, as well as to exploring solutions to bioethical challenges. Through its events and activities, GBI seeks to keep the international community, policy decision-makers, the media, and the general public informed and aware of important bioethical issues. Such [...]
By Caroline Song The Moscow Times recently published an article highlighting the problems that are currently plaguing Russia’s organ procurement process. After getting into a car accident, Alina Sablina fell into a coma and subsequently passed away. While filing charges against the other driver, Sablina’s parents came across a forensic report that listed the removal of [...]
By J. Adebukola Awosogba From 19th century farmland to the to site of the nation's first full face transplant, the Longwood Area embodies 180 years of Bostonian history. Named after the home of Nepolean Bonaparte, Longwood circa 1877 was a place where New England aristocrats enjoyed the occasional tennis or cricket match. However, the twentieth century [...]
By Amy Xia Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old woman from California with terminal brain cancer, ended her life with physician prescribed medications last Saturday. She became the face of the Death with Dignity movement, with a viral video about her decision to die on her own terms. She worked closely with Compassion & Choices, an advocacy [...]
By Caroline Song Recently, a group of prominent members of the German parliament introduced for debate a set of requirements that would legalize doctor-assisted suicide in their country. These legislators believe that the laws currently in place prolong human suffering, and as such are an affront to human dignity. Instead, they argue, patients should be [...]
By Andrew Rock Brittany Maynard, the 29-year-old woman whose recent battle with terminal brain cancer made her the new face of the right-to-die movement, ended her own life on Sunday night. She declared via Facebook, “Goodbye to all my dear friends and family that I love.” Maynard continued, “Today is the day I have chosen [...]
By Amy Xia With extremely short wait times for organ transplants, China has become a popular destination for “transplant tourism.” Compared to the average wait of 4-5 years in the United States, the wait in China is much shorter. In one case, a patient waited only a month for both a kidney and liver transplants, [...]
By Kaitlyn Schaeffer Earlier this month, 80 experts from the Transplantation Committee of the Council of Europe (CD-P-TO) gathered in Rome to confer with Pope Francis over the ongoing organ trafficking crisis. Pope Francis has been outspoken against the illegal organ trade and has called upon people to be more generous with donating their organs. [...]
By Zoe Siegel A recent study conducted by Erasums MC in Rotterdam revealed that organ trafficking has made its way to the Netherlands. Researchers surveyed 241 care providers who treat kidney patients. Nearly half of the respondents have treated at least one patient who has undergone a kidney transplant abroad, and many suspect that these [...]
