d generated headlines around the world. Then, in 1967, South African surgeon Christian M. Barnard made history when he performed the first human heart transplant. Now the door was open for any and all types of transplant possibilities.
It was the development of the drug cyclosporin and its success as an immunosuppressive drug in preventing rejection of the foreign tissue, however, that strengthened the faith in transplants. Up until the late 1970s, recovery from organ transplant operations was seriously impaired by the body's natural rejection of foreign tissue. Discovered in 1980, and approved for use in 1983, this fungus derivative has changed all that (Long 30). Though not without its side effects, ninety-five percent of all heart and kidney transplant patients now survive at least one year due to the drug (Rothfeder 94).
The last twenty years have seen a dramatic rise in the number of people waiting for and undergoing transplants. There are an average of thirty-two organ transplant operations a day in America (Colen "Desperate Measures" 84). Further, there are 17,000 on the waiting list. Experts assume there are many more candidates for the list, but believe that the number is purposely kept low to avoid creating false hopes, knowing that many of these patients will not be able to obtain the organ (Rothfeder 94). Therein lie the problems: too many potential recipients for the number of donors and too high a price for most.
As examples, records show that approximately 15,000 Americans are waiting for kidneys of which about 10,000 will finally obtain one (Rothfeder 94). However, there are over 90,000 patients on dialysis. This life-saving, on-going process will end up costing about $600,000 for an average fifteen-year life expectancy (Colen Hard Choices 214). Author B.D. Colen, in his book Hard Choices, continues by saying that the cost of such a transplant is between $25,000 and $30,000 with approximately $8...