A Not So Smart Organ Market

Reading through Life Choices: A Hastings Center Introduction to Bioethics, I came across a mention of patients being compensated for donating organs or other body tissue; an organ market if you like. Part of the reasoning behind this seemed to be companies were making money off of removed tissue from patients. These patients were then filing lawsuits claiming that part of the profit should go to them, and if they were compensated beforehand this could be avoided. Now in a society were people would do just about anything for a little bit of money, a person being able to sell their own tissue is not such a stellar idea.

As soon as organs begin to be bought, people will be lining up at the clinics. “Sure, take my left kidney. Heck, take both; I’ll take an HD TV over my health any day.” Alright, so it probably wouldn’t be that severe, but if someone is in financial trouble, there is always a chance of them resorting to selling their bodies. Let us not forget, selling your body for profit is also a crime in this country in the form of prostitution.

There’s also the idea that once the tissue is removed from one’s body that it is no longer of use to that person, unless they’re thinking about mounting a removed appendix on their wall. Paying for this tissue would be like paying for one’s garbage that was being used to research new garbage renewal methods. Although if they are, sign me up, I need to pay off my tuition.

Autism: More than a disease

In the winter of 2004, I was working for a local ski area, teaching young kids how to ski. It was one of the best jobs I had ever had. I worked with a special organization, the Bromley Outing Club, who specialized in coaching ski racing, snowboard racing, and freestyle skiing. A small branch of this organization that not many people know about is their adaptive sports program. This allowed people with different types of disabilities to enjoy the thrills and excitement of this popular winter sport.

During that season, I had the opportunity to work with a young autistic boy. His family was here on vacation and they had gone skiing for the day. The clubs was short staffed in their adaptive sports program that day, and were looking for a volunteer for a private lesson. Not fully aware of what I was getting myself into, I volunteered. On the way to meet Steven, the young autistic boy, I was debriefed as what to expect, and I suddenly realized that this was going to be harder than I thought, and I became very nervous. I had no experience working with autistic children, or people with disabilities in general, not that I was aware of anyways.

Autism is a serious disability recognized by the World Health Organization, and the American Psychological Association. It results from a developmental disorder of the central nervous system. It is diagnosed using a specific set of criteria for impairments to social interaction, communication, interests, imagination, and activities. It usually manifests itself before the age of three and is marked by children’s delays in “social interaction, language used in social communication, or symbolic imaginative play” (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). There are many theories as to the causes of autism including, genetics, anatomical variations (i.e. head circumference), abnormal blood vessel function and oxidative stress. However, the causes, etiology, and treatment still remain controversial.

Some autistic children and adults remain opposed to attempts for treatment, because they see autism as part of who they are, and in some cases they perceive treatments and attempts of a cure to be unethical. It is seen as a “way of life” not a “disease.” Recently, some of the “anti-cure” autistic society members sent a letter to the government demanding to be treated as a minority group rather than a group with a mental disability.

With recent development in the autistic culture, there has been an increase in autism recognition and many new approaches to educating and socializing people who suffer from autism. The autistic culture is based more on accepting the belief that autism is a unique way of being rather than an incurable disease or disorder.

On the sunny winter day, I will never forget Steven. He had difficulty learning how to ski, but he never gave up. He never became frustrated or flustered when he kept falling. He would always get up, covered with snow, and a big smile on his face. If there is one thing that I learned from that experience, it was that no matter what you are like on the outside or inside, having fun looks the same all over. Also, I will never forget his perseverance and commitment to learning. Everytime I find myself frustrated and overwhelmed by academics, I just think back to Steven’s smile and that day when I learned one of the most valuable lessons in life from a sweet autistic boy.

Gardasil: The Chance to Prevent Cervical Cancer.

Cervical cancer is the world's second leading cancer in women. For the first time women and girls have the chance to prevent a cancer. The establishment of the new STD vaccine for cervical cancer, known as Gardasil, has led to at least 18 states debating whether to give the vaccine to young school girls age 11 or 12 before they enter in to the sixth grade. So far only Texas has added Gardasil as a required vaccine. The federal government is also trying to pass a law by making Gardasil one of the vaccinations young girls are to have in order to enroll in school.
Merck & Co. first discovered the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. It is helping to bankroll the efforts to pass state laws to encourage young girls to take the vaccine. Through the advocacy group made of female state legislators around the country, Merck was able to raise the money to advocate for requiring the vaccine. Most insurance companies have now covered the vaccine since it has no serious side effects. The New Jersey drug company could generate millions of dollars from the vaccine if only it was made mandatory in the country.
However, according to an article on MSNBC, “Drugmaker wants law to require STD shot” (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16891832/wid/11915773/), some groups are concerned. “The relationship between Merck and women in government is too cozy” and “what it does is benefit the pharmaceutical companies and I don't want pharmaceutical companies taking precedence over the authorities of parents,” said Cathie Adams, the president of the conservative watchdog group Texas Eagle Forum. Once again the parents were left out in the decision making. Some of the parents felt this would encourage young girls to have premarital sex, and would affect the way parents raise their kids at home. According to Perry, the conservative governor of Texas, the vaccine is no different from that for polio. Even though it might be very expensive to the economy, it will make sense to help the individuals in the society who need it. I tend to agree with the governor.
I think it will be a good idea to include the vaccine as one of the vaccinations young girls should get. This will help prevent the virus and decrease the death rate from cervical cancer. Through education, parents can learn how serious and dangerous this virus is and that the vaccine has no side effects that are known yet. Even though the drug company will make lots of money from the vaccine, this will encourage other companies to increase research for vaccines for other types of cancer.
This new invention is one of the most fascinating things to be discovered in this country; people are dying everyday and the only chance to save one more life when it comes to cervical cancer is in our hands. Who cares if the drug companies make money if the vaccine saves lives? Also, the drug companies have spent a lot of money in producing the vaccine and doing research for the vaccine. So if it costs a lot of money, it’s still worth it. It’s like a CT Scan; we don’t prevent people from getting CT scans because they cost a lot of money; the scans save lots of lives. Also, people’s religious ideas prevent them from seeing that the vaccine could save lives. I am pretty sure most people would agree to give the vaccine to the young girls in schools because this would be like giving females a chance to make a choice or die. I don’t agree that the vaccine would encourage premarital sex because there are still lots of diseases one can get through premarital sex.
Here we are trying to debate about a vaccine that would put the smile on the faces of young girls in the future. As Perry said, we should consider this as a vaccine; that is the best way to look at it because in the past people died out of polio and now there is a vaccine that cures it, which means it was worth giving it a try.. Since life is too short why don't people make a big difference in the world for once to reduce the death rate of cervical cancer patients? Here we are in a world of technology and if we don't make good use of it then what is the use of having it at all. I speak for myself but if there is anyone out there who wants to save lives, the person should speak up or sit and watch many more die.

The Future of Health Care?

I recently watched a three part series, 2057, that was on the Discovery Channel. The series makes an educated projection on what life will most likely be like for in 50 years. The predictions are based on current technological developments that for the most part need only to be refined and expanded slightly. Part one of the series titled The Body focuses on potential medical developments in the near future.

Part one of the series predicts numerous advances that will benefit our lives and help us to live longer. Response times will be faster because of car sized VTOL or vertical take off and landing vehicles which are able to fly to and from the hospital in order to avoid traffic congestion. Responding emergency personnel will know all of your vitals, injuries, and medical history immediately. They will even be able to put you into temporarily suspended animation until and while they work on you and hospitals will be able to print you a new organ if necessary.

These advances sound incredible unfortunately, it comes at a price. In order to have all of your vital information immediately, everything you own from your refrigerator to your toilet will be connected to a computer system which not only the heath care system but also your medical insurance company will have access to. Urine and stool samples can be tested and the results supplied to your insurance company with each trip to the bathroom. They will know what is in your cupboards and refrigerator. So they will know what you have been eating and drinking, with particular interest in your not so healthy choices. There will be smart shirts and clothing that can supply private data including your location, heart rate, and breathing.

In this scenario privacy will be a thing of the past and we will all live in fear of our insurance companies. I believe that the best way to avoid this unfortunate consequence of advancement would be to enact some form of legal privacy protection limiting the access of insurance companies to our personal information and the creation of a universal heath care system. After all what would be the point of creating technologies to save countless lives when control of these technologies belongs to insurance companies. Do we all want to be slaves of the insurance companies?

I Hate You, You're So Skinny

When I was in ninth grade a classmate said to me, "I hate you, you're so skinny". She may not have intended to be mean, but I heard, "I hate you because you are skinny and thus we can't be friends". That experience taught me that people are judgmental and that I needed to be careful about what I said around people who weighed more than me.
I don't understand why society dictates that thin is beautiful but then criticizes women who actually are. I have heard many statments over the years and not one was actually complimentary. It bothers me that people feel it is okay for them to say truly negative things, such as, "What are you, a size 0?" or "Let me get that (big object) for you, you might hurt yourself." or "You're such a little thing". I have tried to talk to people about this and their response is just not satisfactory to me. They tell me that the people who say these things are trying to be nice and just don't know how to say so or that they have their own weight issues and what they say is a reflection of them and not to take it personally. My rebuttal is thus: we don't say mean things to fat people or atleast we know it is not socially acceptable to make critical statements to people who are clearly overweight, so why is it okay to say things to thin people?
Recently the media has had a field day with new pictures of Tyra Banks. She was a successful model and now we are tearing her apart for gaining an average amount of weight. She is reported to weigh 160 pounds, but she's 5'11" tall. Give me (and her) a break! Her body shouldn't be any of our business and if we are going to pay attention the least we could do is commend her for being healthy.
Another media field day surrounded the Terri Schiavo case. As this story made headlines, bigger issues became apparent, but the fact that Terri had an eating disorder was swept under the rug. Terri's control over food began long before she had a feeding tube in place. Her husband even won a malpractice suit against the doctors for not recognizing that she had an eating disorder. Maybe if society would stop obsessing with women's weight, healthy, thin people wouldn't need to defend themselves and the rates of eating disorders would decrease.

Will Womb Transplants Be The New Treatment For Infertility?

A new answer for infertile women may be soon on its way as the first womb transplant in
the United States may take place later this year. The idea of a womb transplant is
nothing new; research has been conducted for several years, including successful lab
experiments on mice born from transplanted wombs. Saudi Arabia in the year 2000 made an attempt at a womb transplant, but complications arose. Now seven years later doctors feel that they are ready to try again. Whether or not we are truly ready brings up a big debate. The entire process of a womb transplant would be far from simple. Even if the surgery were to go smoothly, the woman would need to wait 3 months before implantation. She also must give birth by caesarean section, have the womb surgically removed after birth, and take anti-rejection drugs throughout the pregnancy. Clearly there are many variables that may or may not have been heavily weighed in. Another factor to consider, as with all transplants, is the issue of immune rejection. One consideration that has been made is the thought of using family members, such as a mother or sister, because close relations are more likely to have good immune compatibility. While this may sound good, an unsettling thought is if a woman were to use her mother’s uterus, it means the womb where she carries a child is the same womb in which she was developed. One may question if this new technology is necessary. Yes, some women are born without the ability to conceive and have a child, but there are alternatives, such as adoption, that could be taken instead of this surgery. 40,000 eligible children remain unadopted each year, just in the United States. Instead of a risky surgery for a woman to give birth to a child, where there are risks posed to the mother and the baby, she could provide a loving family to one of the unadopted children in this world. Still, while some argue that womb transplants may be unethical, this would be an incredible advance in technology to allow infertile women the opportunity to give birth. And while many may be quick to judge whether this is right or wrong, I think it is the women with bodies that deny them the right to give birth who should have a strong vote in this case.

Sources:

http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/FPinHTML/FocalPointSP01/pgFPsp01Human.shtml

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3035628.stm

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3892