Woman who underwent lung transplant with smoker's lungs due to condition dies
14 replies, posted
[quote]A 27-year-old woman with cystic fibrosis died of cancer after she was given the donor lungs of a smoker.
Jennifer Wederell, of Hawkwell, Essex, died at home in August - 16 months after the transplant at Harefield Hospital in London.
Colin Grannell said he believes his daughter would not have agreed to the transplant had she known the middle-aged donor was a heavy smoker.
The hospital has apologised for not giving her that choice.
Jennifer had been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of two and by her mid-20s was using oxygen 24 hours a day.
She had been on the waiting list for a lung transplant for 18 months when in April 2011, she was told there had been a match.
Mr Grannell said the family had "lived all for that moment" for years, and thought it would help Jennifer "cheat" her condition.
She married her fiance David Wederell in September last year, but by February 2012 a malignant mass was found in her lungs.
'Should have choice'
"The shock immediately turned to anger in so far as all the risks were explained in the hour before her transplant and not once was the fact smoker's lungs would be used mentioned," said Mr Grannell.
"She was dying a death that was meant for someone else."
He has set up a Facebook group, Jennifer's Choice, to encourage non-smokers to sign up to the organ donor register.
The Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust said: "It is very rare for patients to specify that they do not wish to be considered for clinically healthy lungs from smokers.
"This is because the risks are much higher if patients decline donor lungs from a former smoker, and decide to wait for another set of organs which are both a match for them and from a non-smoker, to become available.
"However, we recognise that Jennifer should have been given the opportunity to make this choice.
"We have apologised sincerely for this oversight.
"Regrettably, the number of lungs available for transplantation would fall by 40% if there was a policy of refusing those which have come from a smoker; waiting lists would increase and many more patients would die without a transplant."[/quote]
[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-20762437]Source[/url]
Sad shit.
Smoking kills.[sp]everyone[/sp]
I want more clarity did the transplant fail or the fact the lungs were a smokers it killed her. I don't think the donor organization would take the lungs if they were deemed unfit for another human so I don't get how it killed her specifically unless the body didnt' take the new lungs or the transplant failed.
I'm registered to donate everything either to science or via transplant.
[QUOTE=Article]
"Regrettably, the number of lungs available for transplantation would fall by 40% if there was a policy of refusing those which have come from a smoker; waiting lists would increase and many more patients would die without a transplant."[/QUOTE]
I was mad until I read this. They should have been able to see the lumps forming, but if denying smokers lungs drops the number of lungs by 40%, it's almost a necessary evil.
[QUOTE=valkery;38872477]I was mad until I read this. They should have been able to see the lumps forming, but if denying smokers lungs drops the number of lungs by 40%, it's almost a necessary evil.[/QUOTE]
If more people were aware of how important it is to be registered as organ donors then this wouldn't be as much of a problem.
It's really a shame that good people are dying and life saving organs are being left to rot largely due to lack of awareness
[QUOTE=CubeManv2;38872476]I want more clarity did the transplant fail or the fact the lungs were a smokers it killed her. I don't think the donor organization would take the lungs if they were deemed unfit for another human so I don't get how it killed her specifically unless the body didnt' take the new lungs or the transplant failed.
I'm registered to donate everything either to science or via transplant.[/QUOTE]
At the time before the transplant the lungs were clinically safe, but some time after the donation they started to develop a malignant tumour which killed the poor women
EDIT: I should add I prefer an opt-out system to organ donation - we all need all the help we can get.
[QUOTE=Mitsudigi;38872562]If more people were aware of how important it is to be registered as organ donors then this wouldn't be as much of a problem.
It's really a shame that good people are dying and life saving organs are being left to rot largely due to lack of awareness[/QUOTE]
I've actually heard people say that they don't register as an organ donor because they think that hospitals are more likely to let them die for their organs.
this would be a death sentence for me also, I'm deathly allergic to cigarette smoke. I can only imagine what it would be like having the lungs of a smoker implanted into me.
[QUOTE=Boxbot219;38872794]I've actually heard people say that they don't register as an organ donor because they think that hospitals are more likely to let them die for their organs.[/QUOTE]
In a weird way this story almost proves the point. They didn't tell her about the smoker's lungs in advance, they didn't give her the chance to say "no thanks". Their logic is that well then she'll have to wait longer, possibly dying while waiting.
Okay, but what's it to the hospital? What do they care if she chooses yes or no? AHA! They want her, and all the others, to say yes. They want transplants to take place. Only after the public became aware of their default 'transplant no matter what' attitude did they change their policy.
Can you imagine the push for transplants if this happened in for profit health care systems like the US? More transplants= more money, therefore get organ donors on that operating table as much as you can.
[QUOTE=Mitsudigi;38872562]If more people were aware of how important it is to be registered as organ donors then this wouldn't be as much of a problem.
It's really a shame that good people are dying and life saving organs are being left to rot largely due to lack of awareness[/QUOTE]
Personally I think it should be as easy as saying yes or no when you're getting or renewing your license or something. Not many go out of their way to sign up as a donor because I don't think there are that many people that intend on dying any time soon so it never occurs to them.
[QUOTE=MuTAnT;38873014]Personally I think it should be as easy as saying yes or no when you're getting or renewing your license or something. Not many go out of their way to sign up as a donor because I don't think there are that many people that intend on dying any time soon so it never occurs to them.[/QUOTE]
Maybe it's just my state, or even the office I visited, but when I was registering for my permit a few years ago, it literally was a "yes" or "no". They asked if I wanted to be an organ donor or not.
Here, you're an organ donor unless you specifically sign against it. IMO, that's a much better way to do it.
holy fuck, we need to rephrase that title.
but... i got nothing.
Fun psychological fact of the day:
The effort required to check the box or fill in a circle is too much effort for people. If you make the default option to not be an organ donor you will have far fewer people signed up than if you make it opt out. Even if people read the text and process that checking the box is something that they should do, your values are still lower if it defaults to not being a donor. This is true for pretty much anything else.
In short, humanity isn't lazy, it's incredibly fucking lazy.
[QUOTE=MuTAnT;38873014]Personally I think it should be as easy as saying yes or no when you're getting or renewing your license or something. Not many go out of their way to sign up as a donor because I don't think there are that many people that intend on dying any time soon so it never occurs to them.[/QUOTE]
It is here (in the UK), iirc its at the bottom of the form. You just tick if you want to become a donor. It should be asked in more places though, any time you deal with people who could register you you should be asked. For example, passport applications etc.
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