Organ Donation?

Question

I work in hospital closely with patients, I recently have encounter a situation, one of my patient had a Liver transplant from alcoholic liver serrosis, now he is in hospital agian and asking for another transplant, because he continued to drink at home. Does seem unfair or unethical to other patient whose waiting for a transplant?

Answer 1

That's so wrong, he killed the liver of whom ever nice enough to gave it to him.

Answer 2

First of all, a patient must be free of alcohol for a period of six months before they are considered to be placed on the transplant list. If he is drinking alcohol after a transplant, there is a good chance the organ could go into rejection faster.
With the shortage of organs available, it is very unlikely that he would receive another organ because he was non-compliant in following the doctors instructions on taking care of the one he received.
Each Transplant Center has rules they follow on whether a patient receives an organ or not. He may be placed back on the transplant list if he, once again, gives up alcohol for a period of time...but it would be marked against him receiving one if he cannot be trusted.

It does seem to be unfair if he would receive an organ after destroying this one because there are so many people who truly want to live and be with their families and would lose that chance to someone who really is trying to commit suicide or won't seek help in overcoming his addiction.

However, there are so many emotions and things involved in a transplant that people don't consider, except for the medical profession....like having anothers person body part inside of them, coming so close to death, having to wait so long to try to be chosen to receive this gift, the expense of it all where it can place their family in financial ruin and many other things. When he was evaluated, they would have checked this as thoroughly as they could if he would be able to handle everything involved....he would probably have to go through a more stern evaluation process the next time around, even if he would be considered.

If he stopped drinking again before it has an effect on the donor liver he received, he may not need another transplant if the doctors stepped in right away.
I'm not sure how fast cirrhosis of the liver (death of the liver cells) would occur in a transplanted organ or what effect drinking alcohol would have, for certain, on a transplant organ... considering he is on immune suppressive drugs that may interact with the alcohol. I think I will have to study into this further and it makes your post quite interesting to me.

I wanted to add more about liver transplant than what I originally posted:
The general public consider alcoholic who need a transplant because of liver failure, a self inflicted disease. An article I read, which I cannot post here because it is a government site, states that the poorer graft and survival rates and high costs concerns between those who drink and those who don't that not much difference in these groups have been documented. It also states that as far as complying with the drug regiments, that there is also no difference. As far as the organ rejecting because of a patient returning to alcohol...they compared it to those who have Hep B and C who most always have a reoccurance of the disease after transplant and have more chance of rejection or organ failure because of it.

It also stated in this article that some transplant centers are considering removing the 6 month limit of being free of alcohol and base it more on another scale of the chances of relapse into alcoholism based on past performance. That means people may have a transplant and not have to wait the entire 6 months before receiving an organ if their past actions were not that serious.

It also stated on here that potential transplant patients are given an organ who have the highest maximum medical benefits from it: that all are to be treated with equal respect and concern; and that personal choices of patients be respected...in other words, past behavior does not exclude them. It does state that after a person does relapse after the first transplant because they returned to alcohol, that the
re evaluation of this alcoholic would undergo more extensive evaluation than before. The general public seems to think that others should take priority over the relapsed alcoholic who destroyed his first organ.

I hope this information is of more help to you. In this catagory, I believe, would include those who overdose on medications intentionally in order to commit suicide. What is to keep them from trying it again.

Answer 3

IT'S VERY UNFAIR, CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT THERE ARE NON-DRUNKS WHO REALLY NEED A LIVER, THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN HIS LAST ONE.
IF YOU HAVE THE $ HOSPITALS DON'T REALLY CARE IF YOU GIVE UP DRINKING. THEY WANT TO MAKE A PROFIT. THIS ACT OF DRINKING ONCE AGAIN WAS JUST PLAIN STUPID.