Sigrid Fry‐Revere. The Kidney Sellers: A Journey of Discovery in Iran. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2014. $35.00. pp. 254. Hardback. ISBN 978‐1‐61163‐512‐6.
| Date | 01 September 2017 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/wmh3.233 |
| Published date | 01 September 2017 |
Book Review
Sigrid Fry-Revere. The Kidney Sellers: A Journey of Discovery in Iran. Durham, NC:
Carolina Academic Press, 2014. $35.00. pp. 254. Hardback. ISBN 978-1-61163-512-6.
The shortage of transplantable kidneys has been a growing health concern
around the world. Currently, 400,000 Americans are on dialysis, from which only
100,000 of them are on the kidney transplant waitlist; the rest are either too old,
too sick, have decided to stick with dialysis, or have given up hope of receiving a
kidney. Of those 100,000 patients, only 15 percent receive a kidney after waiting
on average 5 years on the waitlist, while 20–25 patients die every day.
Patients on the waitlist have to wait for a loved one or a volunteer to give up
their extra kidney for donation, or for a cadaver organ to become available.
Living donors are obviously superior, for a number of clinical reasons. Careful
testing for compatibility can be performed in advance, and preparations for
surgery can be precisely arranged. Also, many cadaver organs are lower quality,
contain pathogens like HIV or hepatitis, or are simply delayed so long in transit
to the recipient that they become useless.
Given these grim statistics and the cost burden of dialysis care to Medicare,
there is little doubt that an increase in living donors would benefit both the end-
stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and society. Some have suggested that adding
financial incentives to the current volunteer system could dramatically increase
the number of kidneys available for transplant. The sale of kidneys by living
donors is fully legal in only one country, Iran. However, many policy analysts
argue against the Iranian system of compensated kidney donation, concerned that
donor compensation will inevitably lead to exploitation of the poor. To make an
educated analysis, Dr. Sigrid Fry-Revere decided to witness the Iranian kidney
transplant system herself and explore the seller side of the story. This is the heart
of the book, The Kidney Sellers.
In writing The Kidney Sellers, Dr. Fry-Revere touches on a subject that is
deeply personal to her. Throughout the book, she frequently reminds readers
about her son and a friend who suffer from ESRD in the United States. These
reminders effectively draw attention to the grave consequences of the organ
shortage that results from relying solely on altruistic donors and cadaver
World Medical & Health Policy, Vol. 9, No. 3, 2017
389
doi: 10.1002/wmh3.233
#2017 Policy Studies Organization
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