My daughter would have given her kidney to me

A British mother has complained that her daughter’s kidneys were given to strangers when they could have helped her. Rachel Leake, 39, has kidney failure. When her daughter 21-year-old daughter Laura died after an asthma attack, Ms Leake suggested that she be given a kidney. Laura had expressed her interest in being a living donor and would certainly have approved, said her mother. However, sticking to the letter of the law, hospitals authorities gave Laura’s kidneys and her liver to needier patients.

The head of the Human Tissue Authority, Adrian McNeil, told the BBC: "The central principle of matching and allocating organs from the deceased is that they are allocated to the person on the UK Transplant waiting list who is most in need and who is the best match with the donor. In line with this central principle, a person cannot choose to whom their organ can be given when they die; nor can their family." "It’s an absolutely ridiculous law," says Ms Leake. "Laura’s helped three people through this, but Laura would have wanted to help me." ~ BBC, Apr 12

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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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