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http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/18/health/organ-transplant-child/index.html?hpt=hp_bn10
This article has a little more info - excerpts:
Rivera said they did not ask that Amelia be placed on the transplant waiting list, which has 90,150 candidates seeking kidney transplants. The Riveras wanted to see whether they or other volunteers could be a donor match for her.
Children even as young as Amelia can receive adult organs -- these body parts can be sliced in a way to fit inside a child's body.
Amelia's parents had not been tested to see whether they matched yet.
"We were going into the meeting thinking we're going to be informed on the process," Rivera said. "Instead he (the doctor) gives us a paper that said she's mentally retarded so she doesn't qualify."
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On its Facebook page, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia stated that, "We do not disqualify potential transplant candidates on the basis of intellectual abilities. We have transplanted many children with a wide range of disabilities, including physical and mental disabilities."
In response to the barrage of comments on its Facebook page, the hospital wrote: "We're listening. We hear your concerns and take seriously your posts, emails and phone calls."
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There are no national guidelines over transplants involving mentally disabled patients. The United Network for Organ Sharing, the private, nonprofit organization that manages the nation's organ transplant system, does not have rules about what to do in cases of patients with mental disabilities.
Doctors can refuse to consider a patient for an organ transplant if there is another illness or complications such as a severe infection or cancer that is likely to limit the life span.
Mental disabilities should not factor into the decision making for transplants, so long as the patient has strong support from family and caregivers who would ensure that the required medications and care is given, said Dr. Raul de Velasco, the clinical ethics program director at the University of Miami.
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Martens wrote a 2006 report examining the outcome of patients with developmental delays who received kidney transplants. The report published in Pediatric Transplantation concluded that the one-year patient survival rate was 100% and the three-year outcome was 90%.
More at link.....
This article has a little more info - excerpts:
Rivera said they did not ask that Amelia be placed on the transplant waiting list, which has 90,150 candidates seeking kidney transplants. The Riveras wanted to see whether they or other volunteers could be a donor match for her.
Children even as young as Amelia can receive adult organs -- these body parts can be sliced in a way to fit inside a child's body.
Amelia's parents had not been tested to see whether they matched yet.
"We were going into the meeting thinking we're going to be informed on the process," Rivera said. "Instead he (the doctor) gives us a paper that said she's mentally retarded so she doesn't qualify."
------
On its Facebook page, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia stated that, "We do not disqualify potential transplant candidates on the basis of intellectual abilities. We have transplanted many children with a wide range of disabilities, including physical and mental disabilities."
In response to the barrage of comments on its Facebook page, the hospital wrote: "We're listening. We hear your concerns and take seriously your posts, emails and phone calls."
------
There are no national guidelines over transplants involving mentally disabled patients. The United Network for Organ Sharing, the private, nonprofit organization that manages the nation's organ transplant system, does not have rules about what to do in cases of patients with mental disabilities.
Doctors can refuse to consider a patient for an organ transplant if there is another illness or complications such as a severe infection or cancer that is likely to limit the life span.
Mental disabilities should not factor into the decision making for transplants, so long as the patient has strong support from family and caregivers who would ensure that the required medications and care is given, said Dr. Raul de Velasco, the clinical ethics program director at the University of Miami.
------
Martens wrote a 2006 report examining the outcome of patients with developmental delays who received kidney transplants. The report published in Pediatric Transplantation concluded that the one-year patient survival rate was 100% and the three-year outcome was 90%.
More at link.....
