title: Increasing the supply of kidneys for transplantation by making living donors the preferred source of donor kidneys.
abstract: At the present time, increasing the use of living donors offers the best solution to the organ shortage problem. The clinical questions raised when the first living donor kidney transplant was performed, involving donor risk, informed consent, donor protection, and organ quality, have been largely answered. We strongly encourage a wider utilization of living donation and recommend that living donation, rather than deceased donation, become the first choice for kidney transplantation. We believe that it is ethically sound to have living kidney donation as the primary source for organs when the mortality and morbidity risks to the donor are known and kept extremely low, when the donor is properly informed and protected from coercion, and when accepted national and local guidelines for living donation are followed.
authors.affiliation: From The Annette C. and Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute, Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas (GT); MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, The University of Chicago (MS).
authors.forename: Giuliano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Testa
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Siegler
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D046148:Donor Selection; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D019520:Living Donors / Q000941:ethics* / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D009392:Nephrectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000401:mortality / Q000639:trends; D014481:United States