Costa Rica’s Organ Transplant System is FUBAR

Costa Rica News – This should come as no surprise to anyone, a government run entity being absolutely worthless and inefficient.  If you need an organ transplant you might as well just lose pretty much all hope if you are in the CCSS Social Security System.  I am sure if you have cash you can get to the top of any of these organ transplant lists though.

Each day of waiting and enduring a painful treatment for a disease, in Costa Rica there is the added uncertainty of not knowing whether their will be a transplant organ to save their lives.

The disorder prevailing in the transplant system of Social Security Fund (CCSS) aggravates the pain of patients who are on the lists for transplants.

Do hospitals share waiting lists of patients who need a transplant to promptly report when they see a potential organ donor? The answer is no.

Is there institutional oversight to ensure that those that die can donate? Similarly, no.

Is there a database on the number of patients who need a transplant? No.

Are there protocols for the transfer of organs? No.

Each of these responses, given by Alvaro Meoño, social worker Liver Transplant Center of the Social Security Fund (CCSS), is evidence of the chaos in which doctors and patients will face in the fight to the death one more day of life.

The official admitted that the situation is messy, even though a law in force since 1994 forced the Fund and the Ministry of Health to regulate transplants. Just like the shark finning law and other laws they are worthless unless enforced and implemented.

Meoño regretted what happens, but argued that, for now, he will give support to patients waiting for a transplant. Awesome so give them false hope in the fact they may one day get an organ.

The problem is part of everyday life of the CCSS, where a transplant coordination office has been working two years on the development of programs and policies that impact the insured, but are not implemented yet.

“We are beginning to consolidate communications equipment transplant, a corporate policy proposal,” said Marvin Aguero, program coordinator donation and transplantation of the insurer.

Bullshit!