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Comment by DoreenMichele | Hacker News Reader

Organ donation gets a lot of razzle dazzle press. I think we should put more effort into other things.

Rejection is horrifying and can be deadly. Donated organs can introduce deadly infections. If all goes well, you will be on anti rejection meds the rest of your life.

It's not the magic cure all with no downside that people often seem to imagine.

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...what? Is there some media conspiracy pushing unnecessary organ transplants on people that I'm unaware of?

I don't think anyone gets a liver transplant because of an article in Goop. I imagine that in most cases, they do it because they're going to die without it.

It's really a lot more complicated than that.

But I think it's time for me to walk away from this discussion.

And they still have a great likelihood to die even after.

So, after a heart attack we should not try to do CPR on you because you have a great likelihood to die either way, do I get it right?

You might want to look into the definition of odds.

All of these things are vastly better than dying due to a failed organ... and it’s not like other choices are not seeked. Should we not extend the life of so many children, because in 10 years there may be a better option?

The primary issue that concerns me is that we plow a lot of resources into this option because it makes doctors heroes and grabs headlines. Meanwhile, less "sexy", less headline-grabbing options that would really be better for the patient may be getting overlooked and remaining underdeveloped because it won't grab headlines.

Any source on your claim? Because there is basically research into every illness, and usually organ transplant is chosen as a last option. But when an organ does fail, there is hardly any other choice left.

And organ “printing” is simply not there yet.

Considering how hard it is to obtain and transplant organs, I'm pretty sure doctors only do it when it's the last possible option. Medicine is incredibly data/statistics driven these days.

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