Medics dispute over Cebu Pacific’s refusal to carry kidney
Cebu Pacific reportedly refused to fly with a donated kidney. Medics had to throw the said kidney, transplant doctors said Thursday.
According to Cebu Pacific, they were just protecting passengers from possible infection or contamination.
President of Philippine Society of Nephrology (PSN), Benjamin Balmores, said the kidney could no longer be used after doctors instead tried to drive it nearly 400 kilometres (250 miles) to its destination.
"According to NKTI (the government-run National Kidney and Transplant Institute), this is the first time that the team was not allowed to hand-carry the human organ," Balmores said.
Cebu Pacific said it offered to carry the kidney on priority cargo, but the doctors declined because the organ was too fragile.
Meanwhile, Candice Iyog, representative for the airline said: "The way (the kidney) was packed was not in accordance with prevailing internationally accepted standards."
"It seems there is no standard policy nor a consistent implementation of such policy as seen in the past experience of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute retrieval team," Balmores said.
Enrique Ona, Health Secretary confirmed the incident, he added that the government has to educate airlines about the importance of organ transplants.
Balmores appealed on the government to give more funds for the state’s donor program.
"(It) would not be too ambitious to have a dedicated helicopter to transport organs for transplantation," Balmores said.
A data from Health department show that 9,000 Filipinos die from renal failure every year.
11,000 people are on dialysis nationwide, 3,000 of whom would be fit enough and could afford a kidney transplant.
What others are also reading:
- Cebu Pacific: More flights to Boracay via Caticlan
- Cebu Pacific maintains its status as the largest airline in the country
- Kidneys for sale: Agent arrested inside the compound of a hospital
- NASA’s Terra satellite caught Three Tropical Storms raging in Western Pacific
- Pacific quakes lead to Tsunami warning
