It's time to play "Donate that Kidney"!

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 3:34pm

Dutch Show Has Kidney Donation Contest

A Dutch reality show that claims to be trying to draw attention to a shortage of organ donors said Tuesday it would go ahead with a program in which a terminally ill woman will choose a contestant to receive one of her kidneys.


The program, "Big Donor Show," has been attacked as unethical and tasteless. One member of the Dutch parliament suggested the government should block Friday's broadcast.


"We know that this program is super controversial and some people will think it's tasteless, but we think the reality is even more shocking and tasteless: waiting for an organ is just like playing the lottery," Laurens Drillich, chairman of the BNN network, said in a statement.


He said waiting lists in the Netherlands are more than four years long and 200 patients die annually for lack of a donor.


The network identified the donor as "Lisa," a 37-year-old woman with an inoperable brain tumor. During the show, she will hear interviews with the three candidates, their families and friends before choosing who will get her kidney.


The show is being produced by Endemol NV, the creator of the "Big Brother" series.


A spokeswoman for BNN said that there could be no guarantees the donation would actually be made, "but the intention is" Lisa's donation would be carried out before she died.


That is because her wish to donate to a particular candidate "wouldn't be valid anymore after her death" under Dutch donation rules, Marieke Saly said. If Lisa does donate one kidney while living, the other kidney may still be awarded to someone else on a national donation waiting list under the country's organ allotment system.


Viewers will be able to vote for the candidate they feel is most deserving via SMS text message, but "Lisa will determine who the happy one is," BNN said in a statement.


Saly could not say how much it will cost to send an SMS, but most TV programs charge around $1.35.


Joop Atsma, a lawmaker of the ruling Christian Democrats, raised the issue in parliament, asking the government whether the program violated any law.


"Is it desirable that public broadcasting would go down this path, and is there no way to send a strong signal that we reject this?" he said.


Education Minister Ronald Plasterk, addressing parliament on behalf of the government because the health minister was ill, replied that there were serious questions about whether the transplant would actually go through as BNN has advertised it — but that there was no way to stop the program from airing.


"The information I have right now tells me that the program is unfitting and unethical, especially due to the competitive element, but it's up to program makers to make their choices," he said.


"The constitution forbids me from interfering in the content of programs: let there be no mistake about that, that would be censorship."


He said that there were practical barriers.


"In every transplant the tissue of the donor and the patient must match as much as possible," Plasterk said. "The doctors in this program can't make any concessions on that front."


There also was doubt whether Lisa's organs could be donated at all because it might spread her cancer, he said.


"So it's very possible that in practical terms we're not talking about anything here, because it's possible this transplant can't take place," he said.


Noting the shortage of donors, he said it was a good time for a debate on the question of what incentives to donate are ethical.


He cited the example of a Dutch funeral home that is offering discounts to the families of people who were registered as donors, and an idea presented by the country's Kidney Institute to give registered donors preference on organ waiting lists.




Donor TV

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 3:37pm

Whoa, the ethical issues of this one are endless.

[tazber]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 4:15pm

She's a fool. She could get a bundle for selling it on the black market now. Then go out in style.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 5/30/07 at 1:14pm

And yet another squirt from the oil can on the slippery slope that is organ donation today.

I'd be willing to bet that the producers pitched the idea to her as not just a generous and selfless act, but also convinced her that she is helping to advance the cause of organ donation. And offered her a sh*tload of money, to boot, I'm sure...probably more than she could have snagged on the black market.

The whole enterprise flashes me back to the early days of dialysis, when committees met to decide who "deserved" to be on one of the limited number of dialysis machines. They basically had to decide whose life was more valuable.

The field of transplantation has tried so hard,for so long, to be noble and afford equitable access to all in need of a new organ. The poorest among us have had as much of a chance at getting a new kidney as someone who is really well off. It was that one great altruistic act that usually transcended gender, race, finances, and even age.

The black market (overseas) and the proliferation of "kidney match.com" sites have provided a legal loophole by placing people in need of kidneys and individuals looking to donate in touch with each other. It is rapidly becoming a rich people can buy one and poor people can't. (Although it is still illegal in the US to buy and sell organs, so no one will ever admit to a financial arrangement...) The person who is attractive or can spin a really good tale of woe will also have an advantage over the average schmo.

I've spent decades involved in the field of organ transplantation, and this makes me very, very sad. And more than a little angry.

[AbbaRabbit]

Posted: 5/30/07 at 1:21pm

i can only imagin how awful the pepople who loose will feel... after the entire country as decided that their life is not worth being saved.

[beacon1]

Posted: 5/30/07 at 8:28pm

The mind boggles...

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/30/07 at 8:30pm

Can you spell bad taste boys & girls ?

[wink]

Posted: 5/30/07 at 8:56pm

I thought of you when I saw this on the news, iflitifloat.

I wonder if this show will continue since it's received all the controversy.

[scott68]

Posted: 5/31/07 at 5:32am

I'd watch it. Beats the heck out of Deal Or No Deal.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/31/07 at 6:04pm

Nothing beats DOND

[shira467]

Posted: 5/31/07 at 6:22pm

There was a great Law and Order SVU episode on this today.

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 5:19pm

Okay - this is even more disturbing. If you can even imagine...

Kidney Transplant TV Show Is a Hoax

A Dutch television show in which a terminally ill woman would supposedly donate her kidney to one of three contestants was revealed as a hoax Friday.


At the last moment, presenter Patrick Lodiers of the "Big Donor Show" said the woman known as "Lisa" was an actress, not actually dying of a brain tumor as claimed.


The entire exercise was intended to pressure the government into reforming its organ donation laws and raise public awareness of the need for organs.


The three prospective recipients were real patients in need of transplants and had been in on the hoax, the show said.


The program concept had led to widespread criticism for being tasteless and unethical.


But Lodiers said that it was "reality that was shocking" because around 200 people die annually in the Netherlands while waiting for a kidney, and the average waiting time is more than four years.


"I thought it was brilliant, really," said Caroline Klingers, a kidney patient who was watching the show at a kidney treatment center in Bussum, Netherlands.


"I know these transplant doctors, and I thought they'll never go and actually do it. But it's good for the publicity and there are no losers."


The Netherlands' doctors association had called on members not to participate in the program, and questioned its authenticity.


"Given the large medical, psychological, and legal uncertainties around this case, the KNMG considers the chance extremely small that it will ever come to an organ transplant," it said.


The show was produced by Endemol, which created "Big Brother" in 1999, introducing the concept of reality TV.


Viewers were called on to vote for their favorite candidate by SMS text message for euro0.60 per vote during the show.


Earlier in the week, the Cabinet declined suggestions from lawmakers to ban the program, saying that would amount to censorship.


BNN had said the donation would happen before Lisa's death. But doctors often refuse to accept organ donations from terminally ill patients because the operation could hasten their death.


Under Dutch rules, donors must be friends, or preferably family, of the organ recipient. Meeting on a television program wouldn't qualify.


BNN spokeswoman Marieke Saly had said earlier Friday that all arrangements for the program were completed, but she declined to comment on where and when the donation would be carried out.


"It's going through," she said.


Um...Never mind.

[The Boy From Ohio]

Posted: 6/1/07 at 6:49pm

I just saw on the world news that this was indeed a joke/hoax. I don't know which is sadder. Crazy.