by Raina Jain

Posted on August 8, 2013

A group of undocumented immigrants have been on a hunger strike in an effort to demand free organ transplants. The protest, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, has consisted of 14 hunger strikers and 40 demonstrators.

The protestors are taking a stance against the hospital’s rule that disallows immigrants without green cards from obtaining transplants. The desperation was evident by the protestors’ determination, “We’re asking for help,” said Blanca Gomez, 23, who needs a kidney transplant. “I go to dialysis three times a week. I’m not going off the hunger strike until I get on the transplant list.”

All the immigrants are from Mexico and require an organ transplant that they cannot afford, and are not eligible for federal healthcare benefits like Medicaid.

In response to the strike, Northwestern University’s teaching hospital stated: “Our multidisciplinary teams of clinicians and social workers review a host of determining factors that might forecast an individual’s chances for a successful surgery as well as their means for long-term stability with a transplanted organ. Our processes follow policies compliant with federal regulations. … We believe such careful and meticulous standards ensure fair and equitable evaluation of everyone seeking transplant and allow us to ensure the greatest opportunities for viability of patients with donated organs.”

Dr. David Ansell, chief medical officer at Rush University Medical Center, commented on the ethical controversy: “On the one hand, the intent of the national transplant registry is to base transplants on who needs them most, but there are indeed a whole group of people who find themselves shut out,” he said. “And these are people who are uninsurable, and it creates an ethical dilemma of doing the right thing against the extreme cost of doing a transplant”.

Ansell further noted the statistical disparity in those who donate and receive organs: 20 percent of donors are uninsured, while only one percent of recipients are without health insurance.

Osbeidy Rivera, sister of an undocumented immigrant, expressed her outrage at the disparity:

“If you’re not a citizen, you could still donate. But when it comes to people who don’t have documents, they don’t want to help them. It’s sad.”

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