Domesticating Organ Transplant: Familial Sacrifice and National Aspiration in Mexico. By Megan Crowley-Matoka. Durham: Duke University Press, 2016, p. 336, $25.95 (original) (raw)

Bioethical aspects of organ transplantation. A comparative study between Spain and Mexico

Mexican Bioethics Review ICSA

Loss of life, whether with signs of cardiocirculatory death or brain death, are relevant aspects for the decision on organ transplants, since in many cases it is preferable to obtain them from cadaveric patients, although there is always the option that the recipient is alive. . The article proposes a comparative study between Spanish and Mexican legislation, in relation to some aspects of a bioethical nature, considering organ procurement, informed consent, cadaveric or intervivos donation, cross donation, confidentiality and issues on criminal types.

Mobilizing for Life: Illegality, Organ Transplants, and Migrant Biosociality

Over the past few decades, health-based claims and matters of life have become central to the citizenship politics of the United States. Indeed, individuals a=icted with a wide range of maladies—from AIDS and mental illness to chronic fatigue syndrome and muscular dystrophy—have taken action and sought to be recognized by political, medical, and other authorities in terms of their vital rights as citizens. In this context, undocumented immigrants too, despite their legal status and the intense immigration enforcement climate in the United States, have turned to their biology to make citizenship claims. This essay focuses speciFcally on the efforts of 14 young undocumented migrants to obtain spots on the transplant waitlists in Chicago-area hospitals. It examines their activism in terms of biosociality, a form of citizenship in which individuals and groups are “made up” and come together around a shared biological state or identiFcation—a speciFc disease, corporeal vulnerability, genetic risk, embodied harm, somatic suffering, and so forth— in order to gain recognition, resources, and care. Biosociality thus amounts to collectivities mobilizing on the basis of their damaged or precarious biology as a way of securing vital rights—the right to life, health, and healing. In the case at hand, undocumented immigrants have been “made up” and have come together around organ failure and the general suffering of the “illegal” migrant body, the goal being to achieve access to new organs. Migrant biosociality is about collective entitlement to health services, hope for better treatment, and helping suffering bodies. It is grounded in the belief that undocumented immigrants deserve access to life-saving medical technologies.

A 16-Fold Increase in Organ Donation in a Hispanic Population

Transplantation Proceedings, 2008

Organ transplantation as a substitute for diseased organs in end-stage organ failure has led to a worldwide increase in this treatment modality, but donation has not kept pace with the demand, despite scientific, social, and government efforts. For many years, Hispanic donation in Puerto Rico was meager and lagged behind major centers in North America and Europe. Studies signaled mostly cultural factors in this limited donation. We report a 16-fold increase in organ donation with the development of a formal procurement organization tailored to a local culture. Methods.

Ten Lessons From the Spanish Model of Organ Donation and Transplantation

Transplant International, 2023

The organ donation and transplantation program in Spain has long been considered the gold standard worldwide. An in-depth understanding of the Spanish program may promote the development and reform of transplant programs in other countries. Here, we present a narrative literature review of the Spanish organ donation and transplantation program supplemented by expert feedback and presented according to a conceptual framework of best practices in the field. Core features of the Spanish program include its three-tiered governing structure, close and collaborative relationships with the media, dedicated professional roles, a comprehensive reimbursement strategy, and intensive tailored training programs for all personnel. Several more sophisticated measures have also been implemented, including those focused on advanced donation after circulatory death (DCD) and expanded criteria for organ donation. The overall program is driven by a culture of research, innovation, and continuous commitment and complemented by successful strategies in prevention of end-stage liver and renal disease. Countries seeking ways to reform their current transplant systems might adopt core features and may ultimately aspire to include the aforementioned sophisticated measures. Countries intent on reforming their transplant system should also introduce programs that support living donation, an area of the Spanish program with potential for further improvement.

Barriers to kidney transplant in Jalisco, Mexico: the patient’s perspective

2021

Background: In Mexico, up to 48% of the population does not have health insurance that includes coverage for chronic kidney disease. Renal transplantation is the best option for patients. In 2018, 15,072 patients were on the waiting list of deceased donors, but only 3,048 transplants were performed nationwide. The objective of this study was to investigate the barriers faced by insured and uninsured patients to perform renal transplant protocol. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 200 prevalent hemodialysis patients in Mexico, insured and uninsured. A voluntary and anonymous survey per patient was applied. Data collected included the reasons for not performing a protocol. Results: Only 72 patients (36%) had a protocol, 61.1% for deceased donor and only 30.6% for related living donor. 78% of patients with protocol were insured. Only 32 patients (44.4%) had completed protocol. 128 patients (64%) had no protocol, and 103 of them (80.4%) were insured. The reasons for not performing a prot...