ROVIN’ AND RAVIN’ WITH MIKE

The $6 Million Kidney, the Stolen Kidney,

and the Donated Kidney

Here’s another argument against gambling: a week ago, you could have safely bet a hundred dollars you would never see an R & R column about excretory organs, but after the recent news of the kidney auction on eBay, the Internet’s garage sale, you’d lose your money. While we are chatting about kidneys and the Internet, of course, we have to mention the infamous kidney theft reported in so many e-mails over the years. And, to finish up with a little redeeming social value, let’s look at some myths and truths about organ donation, as well as information on the Internet.

If you are reading this column, you are online, and if you are online, you have probably at some time or other visited eBay, the online auction.

Here, you can find everything from first editions of Ernest Hemingway’s novels to politically incorrect cookie jars, from John Wayne autographs to dinosaur eggs—more than two and a half million items as I am writing this, over a hundred of them associated with Marlene Dietrich. The site provides a place in cyberspace for buyers and sellers to find each other, through over one and a half billion page visits a month, to conduct business based on a large amount of trust and feedback that sellers and buyers provide about each other.

Then, there was the human kidney. Bids reached almost six million dollars before eBay closed the auction. "HardcoreHero," as the person who offered the kidney was identified, now faces possible prosecution for violation of state (Florida) and federal laws for what might have been a prank, but then, again, might not have been.

The situation raises a lot of questions about the ethics of selling and buying organs, about recognizing truth and pranks on the Internet, about living in our scary new world of technology. As we rove into this weird future of ours, we have no guidebooks.

This is not the first time that kidneys have become newsworthy on the Internet. I don’t know how many times I have received e-mail warnings about travelers waking up in a tub of ice after a hard night of partying with strangers in a strange city. There is a warning, sometimes written in lipstick on the mirror, announcing that the victim’s kidneys have been stolen. No matter how many times the story is debunked, it keeps cropping up with another setting, another variation, and before long, another debunking.

The New Orleans Police Department prepared an official web page on the topic after getting so many inquiries about it.

Here is a great site dedicated to educating people about the real need for organs for transplants with a list of "Top Ten Myths about Donation & Transplantation," which begins with this Internet legend.

What they say is worth quoting: "Public Law 98-507 prohibits the sale of human organs. Second, due to the complexity of transplantation, piracy is practically impossible. The process of matching donors with recipients, the need for highly skilled medical professionals to perform the surgery, and the need for modern medical facilities and support necessary for transplantation make it highly unlikely that this system could be duplicated in secrecy."

In fact, this whole list of myths is stimulating and worth your attention. It is also worth your attention to remind you that although you may not be in much danger of losing your kidneys if you drink with strangers to the point of passing out, there are some potential dangers involved in such activity.

And so, we come at last to the importance of organ donation. There are several sites that present so many facts and figures that I am going to trust you to rove to them, so I can spare you my words. Although this first site is specifically dedicated to kidneys (does this start to sound like an obsession?), it is a great introduction to the subject of organ donation and transplantation in general. To get the facts and some great links from a Georgia site, look at the information from Emory University.

As I have said so many times, be very careful in dealing with material that you find on the Internet, especially medical material. Remember, any Internet address that includes ".com" is a commercial site. It is in business, the business of making money. One of the most respected and popular sites for medical information is the site associated with the former Surgeon-General, Dr. C. Everett Koop.

Lately, however, even Dr. Koop, who has been such a leader in health education has come under criticism for the way his site blends information and advertising. He has promised to make some changes in the way advertising and information are distinguished in his site, and it might be worth your time to see just what those changes will be.

As you rove the Internet and rave about what you find, always be sure that you know what you have found. Consider the web site for Global Monetary, which offers a bold new technology for everyday life, a technology which has attracted a great deal of interest as well as a great deal of anger. Now, consider this article about it.

Which do you believe? Which can you believe? As you ponder such imponderables, keep your feet dry, your heart full of noble thoughts, your kidneys where they ought to be, and your signature on an organ donation card.

Rovin' and Ravin' Homepage

Rovin' on the Internet: Online Adventures

Rovin' Through Medical Alternatives