Extreme Reality TV: Kidney Donors in Netherlands

[Guchi_Jnr]

Dutch broadcaster BNN plans to air a television show next week where a terminally ill woman will decide who out of three young patients will get her kidney, Dutch media said on Saturday.
Viewers will be able to advise the 37-year-old woman, known as Lisa, via SMS which of the candidates to pick, the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper said. The show is scheduled for next Friday in a prime-time spot.
BNN, whose former director died from kidney failure and spent years on a waiting list for a kidney transplant, told the Algemeen Dagblad that the show is meant to highlight the acute shortage of donors in The Netherlands.
The show is produced by Endemol, the Dutch entertainment powerhouse that invented the Big Brother television show in 1999.
Several transplant patient organisations and politicians have objected to The Big Donor Show.
"This is going in the direction of selling organs," a spokesperson for the Dutch Transplant Foundation told Algemeen Dagblad.
A Christian Democrat MP on Saturday called on the Dutch ministers of healthcare and culture to stop the show.

Personally think this is a good idea... Yeah, it tasteless, but sometimes people need stuff shoved in their faces before they are willing to open their eyes and see a problem.

[SomethingWild]

Crazy Dutchies (me included haha).

There has been a lot of controversy about this, also in the Netherlands. I think that the controversy is created on purpose so that more people will get interested and so that more people will watch the show. The show will feature clips of children and adults who are dying from organ failure.. by seeing this show, they (the goverment) are hoping more people will sign up as donor. I think that's what this is all about, not just cheap entertainment.

[ctz]

At first it sounded kinda cruel... Terminally ill woman playing god and choosing who will have a second chance.

But I hope people get the idea why the show was created.

[schol3s]

don't they have better things to do.... it is like some kind of lucky draw show....

[Shin Asuka]

The mainstream media made this stroy more cruel than its supposed to be. At least the organs will go to someone else at the winners chosing.

I know most of you when you got your ID said no to being a donor. Its just like throwing away organs in front of people in need. Who are the cruel ones here?

[Foxy Brown]

I know most of you when you got your ID said no to being a donor.

And how do you know this?

[Shin Asuka]

http://www.organdonor.gov/survey2005/

Survey results show that 52.7% of Americans have granted permission for donation of organs or tissues on a driver’s license or an organ donor card.

I said yes to the donor question.

[ctz]

Wow that's easy in the States.

I guess in Finland you have to go through a certain process and get a special donor's card or something. Anyway, too complicated for most of the people. It'd be great to tie it to something, like ID. But in Finland we use a driver's license as ID, so it might not be suitable to ask whether or not you're going to donate your organs if you die in a carcrash next day.

[Guchi_Jnr]

In Australia, you need to go out of your way to become a donor, and it's not a simple tickbox on your license.. Actually, it's not even a card you carry, but it registers you in the donor database..

I'm registered as an organ transplant donor, but not for things such as being a cadaver..

[StreakInTheSky]

to be a donor in the US you just have to stick a pink sticker on your license, but that could easily come off. But you can also go to a website which you fill out some stuff and you're put into some database. It's pretty simple really. I don't understand why some other places make it so hard.

[nop]

Extreme Reality TV  - I afraid what will they think of next time.  Hit man on TV?

[SomethingWild]

So have you all heard?

It was fake! A scheme to get more people aware of the problems.

[Tyball]

So have you all heard?

It was fake! A scheme to get more people aware of the problems.

I'm aware of the problem, just to lazy to try to find out how I can become a donor.

[Tuffty]

Indeed it was!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6714063.stm

Well, despite the criticism, it's got people talking about the issue. Whether or not people decide to sign up on the donor list in another issue.

[nop]

In Japan, Fake program like this will be ban. The company will lose all supporter's contracts.

[huggumwuggums]

^ Well they had a good reason for it.

[mikey009]

i heard it turned out to be a complete prank so hahah those who believed it was real