A kidney donor and an ethicist discuss living organ donation

Photo courtesy of the Center for Practical Bioethics. // Martha Gershun and John D. Lantos spoke to Hofstra students about living organ donation.

Author Martha Gershun and physician-bioethicist John D. Lantos met with Hofstra students via Zoom on Wednesday, Oct. 13, to discuss the ethical, legal and personal issues surrounding living organ donation. The event, titled, “Kidney to Share,” was presented by Hofstra Law’s Gitenstein Institute for Health Law and Policy and the Hofstra Bioethics Center and is based on the 2021 book of the same name that Gershun and Lantos co-authored. 

 The book offered commentary by Gershun and Lantos about living kidney donation, or organ donation from a donor who is alive. Students had the opportunity to learn about what goes on leading up to surgery and what can be done to make organ donation more accessible. 

 Gershun herself is a living organ donor. She donated her left kidney to Debra Gill, a stranger, after reading about her story in the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle in December 2017. Gill, a mother of two, developed chronic kidney disease at the age of 27. She received a kidney donation 17 years prior, but it was failing. 

 “From the beginning, when I read about Deb’s story, I had a feeling that I should try to help,” Gershun said. At the time, Gershun did not have major responsibilities. She had retired from her job as executive director of Jackson County Court Appointed Special Advocates and her adult children had left home. She considered potential kidney donation as her “next volunteer project.” 

 The odds of an individual matching with a specific person that they are not biologically related to is about one in 100,000. It would not be likely that Gershun and Gill be a match. 

 “It was a miracle I did match with Deb,” Gershun said, “and I thought from this point on this was going to be straightforward.”  

 She did not consider the extent of the logistic and financial barriers that are put up which make living organ donation so difficult. 

 Logistically, Gershun was blocked from moving forward in the process multiple times since she smoked recreational marijuana and saw a mental health counselor. She also had to figure out how to ship her blood for testing on dry ice. 

 Financially, Gershun said there are more nonprofits in place now than there were when she donated in 2018, but donors are expected to pay out of pocket. 

 “My husband and I were out over $4,000,” she continued, citing costs from travel and hotel expenses. Her recipient later reimbursed her, but she added that this is not always the case. 

 John D. Lantos also discussed proposals on limiting these barriers. He suggested creating markets for organs, as it is legal for some body parts, such as sperm and eggs, to be sold. 

 “There’s a sort of contradiction here between policies about certain body parts compared to other body parts,” Lantos said. 

 “That’s strange to me that it would cost me money to give part of my body away, as opposed to sperm and egg donation,” said Allie Jerreld, a junior forensic science major. “I think that would deter people from wanting to be a living organ donor, which is counter-productive if you’re trying to save lives.” 

 Lantos also spoke about cadaveric organs, presumed consent or opt-out systems, meaning that organs can automatically be donated when a person dies. The United States uses an opt-in system where you must sign up to become an organ donor. 

 “There are only a couple of countries in the world that implemented [presumed consent]: Spain and Croatia,” Lantos said. “They, not surprisingly, have the highest rates of cadaveric donation.” 

 Rachel Roberts, a senior accounting major, is a registered organ donor. 

 “If God-forbid I were to be dying or brain-dead from a severe accident,” Roberts said, “I would want someone to have my kidney so they could live a better life.”  

 Still, logistical and financial barriers remain. 

 “We should be allowed to donate our bodies as we choose,” said Jake Pampinella, a junior mechanical engineering major. Donation should be about “ethics and humanity,” he added. 

 Lantos closed the event with the same statement that closes the book. 

 “Donors who offer to donate a kidney should be treated like donors who offer to donate cash to a hospital,” Lantos said.