Follow Up on Child Needing Lung Transplant

The 11-year-old Murnaghan child who only had a few weeks to live unless she received a lung transplant made news across the media. Her story pulled at our heartstrings. Even I shared it on Facebook, as what I read made it sound like it was only her age that was keeping her from getting a transplant, despite her condition being dire enough for her to be at the top of the transplant list otherwise.

We forget, when emotions come into play, just how many factors are involved. Even multiple transplant recipient patients like myself. Until, perhaps, reading some of the comments and follow-ups to the story.

The good news for the little girl is that she received the much-needed lungs. The controversy seems to have arisen for a number of reasons: 1) people think she was bumped to the top of the list because of her parents' intervention alone - when it seems that in reality when her age was reconsidered that is what removed the barrier from having kept her from being at the top of the list where she would have been anyway, and 2) people are convinced the next-in-line automatically perished, when they may not have, and 3) that people that do not understand the ins and outs of organ procurement and transplantation - i.e.; society in general and government, be it legislative, judicial or, executive - should not be making decisions on these types thing, and the list goes on.

My personal opinion is to 'fix' the issue at its root is to adopt what many other countries have done to increase organ donation: have an 'opt-out' policy rather than an 'opt in' policy. It is my observation that the majority of people don't care one way or another about where there organs go and don't care to discuss it. It's a non-interest topic.

The ones who do care to donate are, sadly, not enough. (Roughly 18 people die every die awaiting an organ transplant. That's babies, toddlers, school children, young adults, college students, new parents, the middle-aged, grandparents, great-grandparents...

The ones who are against organ donation will be able to opt out of this program.

Comments? Thoughts?

Here is more on the Murnaghan story.