Local lawyer to chair transplant council
Gina Berry
(CNS): Following the recent implementation of the Human Tissue Transplant Law, paving the way for local organ donations and transplants, the government has now appointed the council to oversee the new area of medical practice. Local attorney Gina Berry has been appointed as the chair of the Human Tissue Transplant Council, with local physician Dr Diane Hislop-Chestnut as the deputy chair. They will be supported by members Robert Hamaty, a transplant survivor who has been advocating for the legislation for a long time, and Rev Nicholas Sykes. The commissioner of police will also be represented on the council. All of the members have been appointed until August 2020.
The commencement order for legislation was signed in July, implementing a law that began life almost a decade ago. It paves the way for voluntary donation locally by consent of family members whose loved ones had agreed to donation before their death.
The council will monitor the donation of tissue and be responsible for creating and maintaining a local donation register.
Category: Health, Medical Health
Serious question: if the GT Public Blood Bank is already chronically stressed from unscheduled routine emergency demands, plus the further depletions via elective heart surgeries at Shetty, then what happens when we add new elective blood transfusions and organ transplant demands on this very finite resource, and narrow spectrum of qualified donors? Nice people, like Lisa Turner, with a fairly pressing health emergency, had to perish because there were insufficient blood products on hand. How are we going to find matching ABO and RhD emergency donors to meet an elective for-profit business for visiting organ recipients while ensuring an acceptable and sustainable blood product reserve for residents that are fighting for their lives? There doesn’t seem to be any discussion about this shortfall and the unfortunate paradoxes of finite supply.
U N I T S O F C O N S U M E D B L O O D P R O D U C T S ( A P P R O X )*
RBC FFP PLT
Coronary surgery 5.5 11.1 2.9
Valve surgery 9.0 13.5 3.4
Thoracic surgery 7.9 17.1 5.3
Aortic surgery 14.3 23.6 4.8
Cardiac devices 27.5 28.9 7.9
Heart transplant 41.4 31.8 7.9
Liver transplant 12.0 13.0 10.0
Kidney transplant 2.0 0.0 0.0
Lung single 2.0 0.0 0.0
Lung double 7.0 2.0 8.0
*Median Blood Use – does not include post-op follow-up infusions from complications and infections which can further extend into >100 units per patient.
Who cares, within 5-10 companies will be mass producing organs based upon your DNA so there is no rejection.
Whoops. I have to stop posting good ideas that trump the several stupid committees that serve no purpose in government. Well, at least we know caymanians are good at stealing ideas and consulting with experts. There is a bright future in being always 3 steps back from the modern 1st world countries. Enjoy your trips to Miami and free passports to Britain while the cash still flows. All good things come to an end sooner or later and less than good tend to be sooner.
CNS: do you know what the role of the oversight committee is? Or purpose?
CNS: No, but it’s a good question. I’ll send it to Auntie.
These will be the naive scapegoats when it is found that we have been enabling a liquidation venue for rampant illegal and immoral human organ trafficking from Central and South America.
An amazing achievement. World Class!
No surprise there are always folks with negative comments & inuendos lurking in the background !
Ten years I the making ! Congratulations to all for a job well done & for setting up a well balanced council to oversee the gift giving & receiving. ⚘.
There is no need for a ‘council’ if it is enshrined in law. Just let organ donation begin to whoever needs it the most.
I hope the organ donations are better supported than the blood bank where a lot of “permanent residents” (to put it euphamistically), will only show up for one of their relatives.
Donate my organs, incinerate the remains and bury my ashes around fruit trees so that my molecules may return from where they came.
No one ever really thinks about this. You can’t destroy matter. The atoms in your body have existed and will exist forever.
Sadly, having someone with an emotional (some might say vested) interest involved in this is not a smart move. I’m not for a second doubting Mr Hamaty’s sincerity or the value of his input but he should recuse himself from direct involvement on the oversight committee.
I’m no fan of Hamaty but Sykes is a much bigger concern. What business does religion have in this issue?
Are you serious? Do you realize how dangerous it could be for a Christian to receive a Muslim, Jewish, Hindi etc. organ?
CNS: In case anyone is wondering. I approved this comment because I’m assuming the author is being ironic.
Before you were even thinking about this matters Mr Hamaty has been fighting for the rights of the Caymanians to have their life saved by an organ transplant. He already got his and because he had to struggle so much for it he doesnt want the rest of us to go thru the same. No Sir, if there is anyone who will know about this will be him.
This is one of those things one never appreciates until they get a grim diagnosis. Organ donors give lifetime in their last hours. We should pray we never find ourselves in either spot.
Great, no organ transplants on a Sunday then!
Another level of bureaucracy we probably don’t need. Register to be a donor, Issue national donor cards and let the medical profession take care of the rest. Adding lawyers into the equation will result in more delays.
What is FAR WORSE is having Sykes involved in any way whatsoever!! As someone who has most willingly offered my remains to others I most certainly DO NOT WANT HIM having any say at all in the matter. This was a VERY BAD CHOICE indeed!
Wonderful news!! Organ/tissue donations save lives!!!!