living donor on Nightline tonight

[Guest guest]

Nightline Daily E-Mail

December 23, 2003

TONIGHT'S FOCUS: A controversial surgery that can save a life....or

lose two. In a time when too few of us are registered organ donors,

thousands of Americans die each year waiting for lifesaving

transplants. But livers are the only major internal organs that

regenerate. And so it is possible for a healthy person to donate a

portion of a liver. It is the ultimate gift. But one that is not

without risk or ethical concerns.

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Most of us would not flinch at the opportunity to give blood for a

sick loved one. A momentary stick in the arm? That's nothing. And

even bone marrow donation is a somewhat more significant medical

procedure, but essentially without real risk for the donor. Both can

be lifesaving gifts. And donating blood and registering for the bone

marrow donor bank are minor inconveniences in an otherwise healthy

life (albeit many, many more people are needed for both).

But donating 60 percent of your liver in a complicated surgical

procedure is not without real risk. In fact, mortality in this

procedure is far more likely than in donating an entire kidney.

Tonight we'll introduce you to the brothers. When 31-year-

old Ron was suffering from a rare and serious liver disease, he did

not immediately think of asking his 30-year-old brother Curtis to be

his donor. But Ron was not sick enough to qualify for one of the few

livers available in this country for transplant. And even if he

were, the odds were poor that he'd get one.

In fact, 17,000 Americans are currently awaiting a liver transplant.

There are only about 4500 of the organs donated by cadaver each

year. Last year alone, around 1800 Americans died while waiting for

a liver.

So, given those odds, Curtis , a young father, made a most

generous decision.

But it's a decision that some say is being made too hastily and

without standardized ethical protocol from hospital to hospital.

Last year Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City had to

temporarily cease live donor transplants during an investigation

into the death of one donor. He died after donating part of his

liver to his younger brother and his wife subsequently sued the

hospital.

If more of us were registered organ donors these ethical questions

would be moot. Until then, the s and many other families will

struggle with the decision to give the ultimate gift.

We hope you'll join us.

Sara Just and the Nightline Staff

ABCNEWS Washington bureau