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Invited Commentary
August 2016

The Ethical Dilemma of Compensating Living Kidney Donors: Alignment Between Science, Legislation, and Ethical Perception in Society?

Author Affiliations
  • 1Division of Surgery, Department of Clinical Science, Intervention, and Technology, Karolinska Institute at the Center for Digestive Diseases, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
  • 2Division of Therapeutic Immunology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institute at the Center for Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
JAMA Surg. 2016;151(8):716-717. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2016.0092

Since 1954, when the first kidney transplantation was performed, more than half a million living donor kidney transplants have been completed.1 A study2 on 3698 living kidney donors showed that the postoperative mortality rate of donation is 0.03% and that the risk of long-term end-stage renal disease is comparable with the risk of the matched general US population. The authors concluded that the life expectancy and quality of life of living donors is comparable with the general population.

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