http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-dark-side-of-organ-donation/The Dark Side Of Organ Donation
By Laura Meckler
August 12, 2003
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While few living donors die, there are no reliable statistics about donors' surgical complications. Existing data suggest that as many as one in three liver donors, for example, face complications such as additional surgery, hospitalization and extended recoveries.
Transplant programs do not always provide donors with detailed information about the risks. In addition, there is no central place donors can go for unbiased information - not just about obvious side effects, but about time lost from work, pain, discomfort and expenses.
Moreover, the organ donation system has its own built-in contradictions. A physician's guiding principle instructs do no harm, yet living donation removes an organ from a healthy person who will derive no medical benefit from the procedure.
Most donors have no regrets, and many have only minimal pain.
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Topic: Ancient History (2003!) The Dark Side Of Organ Donation (Read 3401 times)