Toronto hospital declines offer of kidney from man in “Jesus Christians” group

A tiny religious group based in Australia has been advising its
members to donate their kidneys to strangers, reports the Wall Street
Journal. Founded by an American, David McKay, in 1982, the Jesus
Christians describe themselves as "a live-by-faith,
work-for-God-not-money Christian community". Its members
distribute Bible-based comics and other tracts, including a novel by
Mr McKay on the end times, and do voluntary work. One of their
charitable assignments is donating kidneys; "[we] are prepared
to do outrageous things to express our love for God and others,"
says McKay. Because about two-thirds of the group’s 30 members have
donated kidneys, it has been dubbed "the kidney cult" by
the media.

The WSJ narrates an attempt by a Sydney man, Ashwyn Falkingham, to
donate a kidney to a woman, Sandi Sabloff, in Toronto. Under
pressure from Falkingham’s parents, Toronto General Hospital
eventually refused, saying that his motivation was not altruism, but
a desire for publicity. Falkingham and Sabloff are now looking for a
hospital in the US which will do the transplant. Hospitals are
normally wary of organ donations from strangers, as altruism has
often been a cover for secret compensation. Anonymous donors can also
be psychologically disturbed or unrealistic or they can back out at
the last minute. ~ WSJ, Dec 13; ABC (Australia), Jun 4

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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