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Peer-reviewed article

The Endgame

This chapter begins with detailing the author's final results following her three-day grueling tests for glucose tolerance, psychological screening, kidney function, EKG, and a chest X-ray. The author found out that there was an issue with…

By John D. LantosJanuary 1, 20211 min readin Cornell University Press eBooks

This chapter begins with detailing the author's final results following her three-day grueling tests for glucose tolerance, psychological screening, kidney function, EKG, and a chest X-ray. The author found out that there was an issue with her blood pressure. It then outlines the four available choices she could take: to end the process, to lose some weight and reduce salt intake and retest in a few months, to start on a very low dose of antihypertensive medication and retest in two weeks, and finally, to take her current results to the Transplant Selection Committee and hope for the best. Ultimately, the chapter presents an alternative plan, to become part of the Kidney Paired Donation program, if the new blood tests ruled the author unable to donate directly to the intended recipient.

Originally published at Cornell University Press eBooks · January 1, 2021.

About the author

John D. Lantos is a pediatrician and bioethicist writing on AI in medicine, neonatal intensive care, and end-of-life decisions. His essays appear in JAMA, JAMA Pediatrics, the Hastings Center Report, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Aeon. Read more about John.

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