Organ Transplants-Should you be allowed to make direct appeals and bypass the list?

My heart breaks for the poor brides family that is appealing to the public for a liver. But is it right?

I watched on 20/20 one night, where 2 people were in need of livers. One lady, low income had been on the list for months. She did not have any proactive family or friends, she just trusted in the list.

The it showed a man in his 20's who was engaged. He had been told he needed a liver, they put him on the list. But his family did not think that was enough, so they rented billboards, and made pleas on the news for a possible donor. He found a donor and had the transplant, while the original lady remained on the list.

Should you be able to bypass the list?

Re: Organ Transplants-Should you be allowed to make direct appeals and bypass the list?

Being that my father-in-law is on this list, I have to say NO - I don't think its fair that some people get to bypass the list.

Re: Organ Transplants-Should you be allowed to make direct appeals and bypass the list?

Re: Organ Transplants-Should you be allowed to make direct appeals and bypass the list?

I'm undecided about that.

But I think the donor (assuming he/she is alive), can choose who to give donate to. Like if I wanted to donate a kidney, I could say who on the list I wanted to give it to, regardless of that persons # on the list.

Re: Organ Transplants-Should you be allowed to make direct appeals and bypass the list?

Re: Organ Transplants-Should you be allowed to make direct appeals and bypass the list?

VERY hard to say, I would like to say No, but what if it were a family member of mine and I had the means to bypass the list...

i honestly cant say I can answer either way...

Re: Organ Transplants-Should you be allowed to make direct appeals and bypass the list?

My father had a kidney transplant one month ago. My feeling is that if someone dies and their organs are harvested, they should go to the next person on the list. While I agree that is somewhat unfair for someone with a proactive family with a lot of resources to be able to get a live donor to donate a kidney, and hence jump the list, that is really the donor's choice. Honestly, if it were my family member, I would want to use whatever resources I had, too.

If I were a live donor, however, and not donating for a friend or family member, I would want my organ to go to the next person on the list.

Re: Organ Transplants-Should you be allowed to make direct appeals and bypass the list?

I think this situation is somewhat unique because of the time considerations. Basically, from the time Shari's family found out she needed a new liver, she had one week to find one. Clearly, if she needed to wait on the list, she would die.