London, Ontario – July 02, 2007 - According to a new review in American Journal of Transplantation, people who donate their kidney or part of their liver to help someone else may themselves encounter difficulty with life and health insurance, despite insurance companies saying otherwise.
“Insurance companies, when surveyed, stated they would insure living kidney donors, and would usually not charge higher premiums,” says review author Robert Yang, a research fellow in the Kidney Clinical Research Unit at the London Health Sciences Centre. “Despite that, 3-11 percent of donors still experienced insurance problems.”
Potential live donors worry about possible insurance problems in the future. As many as 14 percent of potential donors, from various countries with different social support and health care systems, expressed concern with their insurability if they were to donate an organ. Some research indicates that these concerns may lead a potential donor to reconsider donating.
Yang suggests that physicians should provide all information to patients before they make the important and life-altering decision to donate. “Even if donors are willing to accept the risks of non-insurability and/or higher insurance premiums, transplant professionals still have an ethical obligation to protect donor freedom of choice while ensuring that donors do not suffer unnecessary stress or financial penalty,” says Yang.
The research and viewpoints expressed in the article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of the journal or the affiliated societies.
This study is published in the June issue of American Journal of Transplantation. Media wishing to receive a PDF of this article may contact medicalnews@bos.blackwellpublishing.net.
Dr. Robert Yang is a Research Fellow under Dr. Amit Garg in the Kidney Clinical Research Unit at the London Health Sciences Centre, affiliated with the University of Western Ontario and the Lawson Health Research Institute. He is supported by a Kidney Foundation of Canada Biomedical Fellowship, as well as a Fellowship from Ortho Biotech. Dr. Yang can be reached for questions at robert.yang@LHSC.on.ca.
The aim of the American Journal of Transplantation is the rapid publication of new high quality data in organ and tissue transplantation and the related sciences. The sciences include relevant aspects of cell biology, medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and infectious diseases. The journal includes thoracic transplantation (heart, lung), abdominal transplantation (kidney, liver, pancreas, islets), transplantation of tissues and related topics. For more information, please visit www.blackwellpublishing.com/ajt.
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