Six Israeli hospitals will participate in a trial kidney transplant program that is getting underway. It involves permitting doctors to harvest a kidney from a patient who was in cardiac arrest and unsuccessfully resuscitated. Today, under current transplant guidelines, a kidney may only be taken from a patient if the patient’s heart is beating.
Taking part in the program are Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer Hospital, Ichilov Hospital, Beilinson Hospital, Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, Soroka Medical Center and Rambam Medical Center.
Immediately after a CPR victim is pronounced dead catheters will be inserted into the body to pump a cooling liquid to keep the kidneys viable for transplant. This will give doctors a 2½ hour window to obtain permission from family members for a transplant and to locate a recipient for the organs.
Realizing it may be difficult to reach family members immediately, the Health Ministry is permitting insertion of catheters to run the cooling fluid prior to contacting the family with the explanation that this procedure is minimally invasive, not compromising the autonomy of the patient and therefore, can be done without expressed permission. This will only be done for patients known to have signed organ donor cards prior to their death but officials admit they are thinking of expanding the project to patients who are not signed as organ donors.
Health Ministry Director-General Prof. Roni Gamzu explains “the gap between donors and potential recipients is not sufficiently narrowing”, explaining why the ministry sees the need for this pilot program.
As of January there were 762 Israelis waiting for a kidney compared to 518 in 2007.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
If they signed organ donor cards, why do they need the family’s permission?
Given that the people running the Israeli hospitals tend to be atheists, there is every reason to believe they will gladly “harvest” organs since its good for their business, regardless of whether the patient consents, or is still alive. Given the contempt that Israeli doctors hold for Torah, frum Jews should object unless the process allows for independent halachic review of the procedures. While some posekim are liberal are harvest organs, others support the traditional policy of burying the dead body intact, and it should not be for the government to decide such matters.