Transplant tissue business not all good
26th Jan 2006, 17:36 GMT
Filed under: Ovarian Cancer The tissue transplant industry has an ugly under belly. There have long been rumors about deserving, needy people languishing on donor waiting lists while affluent patients use their influences to receive organs intended for others. Illegal tissue harvesting is another issue to recently surface. In the last few years, the demand for bone and tissue transplants has grown: skin for wounds or burns; corneas to help prevent blindness; heart valves to repair heart defects; and parts of bone, cartilage and tendons used in hip replacements, knee replacements and ankle surgeries. And while the technology is a boon for the medical fields and a gift for many thousands of tissue recipients, the torrid stories of loved ones being mangled in funeral homes are growing. Wendy Kogut of Brooklyn, who lost her sister, Danette, to ovarian cancer in November 2003 is reeling from the revelation that the funeral home where Danette was to be cremated actually removed body parts and sold them to hospitals. Danette's family had not given consent for any tissue harvesting. Tissue transplants are part of a billion dollar industry that is expected to grow every year. While the organ donor industry is tightly monitored, the tissue donor business does not have many regulations in place to prevent stories like Wendy Krogut's. Tissue, unlike organs, can be collected, stored and reprocessed long after death. The lucrative nature of the business is attractive to many individuals who are willing to cut corners and ignore the law, leaving some families burdened with grief. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
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