Volume 183 - Issue 1
Outcome of overseas commercial kidney transplantation: an Australian perspective
Authors: Sean E Kennedy, Yvonne Shen, John A Charlesworth, James D Mackie, John D Mahony, John J P Kelly and Bruce A Pussell
Med J Aust 2005; 183 (1): 54. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb06899.x
Published online: 6 June 2005
Published online: 6 June 2005
Sean E Kennedy,* Yvonne Shen,* John A Charlesworth,† James D Mackie,‡ John D Mahony,§ John J P Kelly,¶ Bruce A Pussell**
* Renal Registrar, † Professor of Renal Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, NSW. ‡ Renal Physician, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, and Illawarra Regional Hospital, Wollongong, NSW. § Renal Physician, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, NSW. ¶ Renal Physician, St George Hospital, Sydney, NSW. ** Professor of Medicine, Department of Nephrology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney NSW 2031. b.pussellATunsw.edu.au
In reply: We agree that the motives for organ trafficking are complex. The reasons that people choose to travel overseas to obtain an organ was not addressed in our article on this occasion, but some possible reasons may be self evident given the long waiting time, especially in New South Wales. Our aim was to alert our colleagues to the increased risks associated with overseas commercial transplant procedures so that they could ensure that their patients were fully informed when making a decision.
Most of our patients were on the waiting list, and the time on dialysis was detailed in Box 2 in our article.1 However, two were not on the waiting list — one had a pre-emptive transplant and another was not on the list because of age-related medical problems.
References
- Kennedy SE, Shen Y, Charlesworth JA, et al. Outcome of overseas commercial kidney transplantation: an Australian perspective. Med J Aust 2005; 182: 224-227. <eMJA full text>