Todd Need[ed] a Liver

Mr. Christmas Lights writes "According to this CNN article, Todd Krampitz's liver transplant operation was a success. What is significant about this is how he used a multi-media campaign to get a donor - this included billboards stating 'I need a Liver. Please help Save my Life' that all pointed to his web site at ToddNeedsALiver.com where you can read more. Certainly a novel use of the World Wide Web."

Comments

Illegal?

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't understand. I thought organ transplants could not be done privately and could only be done through organ transplant lists where you were ranked on necessity and the immediate terminality of your situation?

So, how exactly would a media campaign expedite such a transplant?! It's not like he could pay someone for it and I'm pretty sure they require anonymity. As happened in this case, I don't believe they allow a specific person to donate a specific organ to a specific recipient without going through the hospital process as there might be someone else chosen as more needy or more urgent.

And at any rate, this just further shows the disparity between those who have money and those who do not. Those who have it can do a media blitz to get a liber or find their abducted child and so on while those without it are fucked.

By the way - his girlfriend is hot. Too bad they seem like a couple of religious nuts.

So did he 'buy' his liver?

[Phoenixhunter]

The real question to ask here is whether or not such ad campaigns equate to 'buying' a liver through spending money on the advertisements? Could this be the next boon to advertisers?

This is a good use of the web

[ShatteredDream]

Things like this help to defeat the image of the web as the online wild west which makes it harder to lobby for fundamental changes to be forced on the architecture. Kinda hard to paint it as a force for "darkening our childrens' hearts" as Bush insinuated it often was in the 2000 election when it is being used effectively to save lives.

Was this ethical?

[bstarrfield]

First, I'm glad that his life now has a higher probability of being saved. No transplant operation is a guarenteed success. He has a family who cares, he's young, and he deserves a chance.

However, there is a great shortage of organ donors - many of whom are people who do not have access to the financial resources necessary to conduct such an impressive media campaign. Do these people have less of a right to survive? Unfortunately, the success of Todd's campaign will likely encourage future copycat media blitz's.

Are we going to allow wealth to decide who live's or dies? Simple charisma, money, and good looks seem to be the factor which saved (hopefully) this fellows life. What do you say to the single teacher who needs a transplant? Sorry, you just have to wait your chance?

If you want to make a difference for many people, sign your organ donor card, donate to the red cross, encourage stem cell research. And please, try to think of a better way to allocate organs than giving an organ to those who have the most money. I'm sorry that I'm harsh with this, but now someone else has been pushed farther down the line in the transplant list, and that person may not survive.