Outcry over TV kidney competition

Welcome To

Outcry over TV kidney competition

This topic is empty.

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)

Author

Posts
May 29, 2007 at 9:00 am

#692366
[deleted]

@[deleted]

Inactive
BBC News wrote:

A Dutch reality TV programme in which a terminally ill woman will select one of three patients to receive her kidneys has sparked outcry in the Netherlands.

The government has called for the Big Donor Show to be scrapped because it is “wretched” and unethical, according to reports in the Dutch media.

But broadcaster BNN said the aim was to highlight the acute shortage of organ donors in the Netherlands.

It said the show, from the makers of Big Brother, would go ahead as planned.

The 37-year-old donor has been identified only by the name Lisa.

She will make her choice based on the contestants’ history, profile and conversation with their family and friends.

Viewers will also be able to send in their advice by text message during the 80-minute show.
The former director of TV station BNN died from kidney failure and spent years on a waiting list for a kidney transplant.

Does this strike anyone as slightly wrong?

I am amazed at what the TV people will come up with as “entertainment” :you_crazy
May 29, 2007 at 9:03 am

#886739
6

Angel

@angel

Moderator
Staff
I read about it this morning..

I think they are overstepping the line :hopeless:
May 29, 2007 at 9:09 am

#886735
[deleted]

@[deleted]

Inactive
It has gone a little too far, i know they said the same about the autopsy they screened on C4 in the UK not so long back was morally wrong. This however i thought was educational as it was something i wouldn’t normally see….

I cant see how they are allowed to give a body organ away as a prize, i also wonder how the other contestants will feel when they loose? Its not like they are just missing out on a few grand in cash or a holiday to spain, they are loosing the chance to have a new kidney..
May 29, 2007 at 9:14 am

#886740
6

Angel

@angel

Moderator
Staff
starlaugh wrote:

I also wonder how the other contestants will feel when they loose? Its not like they are just missing out on a few grand in cash or a holiday to spain, they are loosing the chance to have a new kidney..

My former boss got a new kidney,his life was hell before he got it..

I can’t imaging how this would have effected him mentally if he lost a competition like this :you_crazy

The program should be taken of the screen!!!
May 29, 2007 at 10:41 am

#886737
1

tarifa

@tarifa

Member
:you_crazy I’m sorry, but what the f**k? :you_crazy
May 29, 2007 at 11:05 am

#886732
6

General Lighting

@general-lighting

Moderator
Staff
surely this breaks the ethical codes of the medical profession anyway?

Even without the TV programme, I always thought it was a cornerstone of European culture that if you donated your organs that it was done unconditionally and the organs were allocated by the health service, without anyone having any chance to discriminate on who gets them.

This sort of thing sets a dangerous precedent IMO..
May 29, 2007 at 11:09 am

#886738
1

tarifa

@tarifa

Member
General Lighting wrote:

surely this breaks the ethical codes of the medical profession anyway?

professional codes of coduct and ethics, morals, patient/donor cofidentiality, non-judgemental positive regard, data protection . . . ad infinitum :bounce_fl

beggars belief :you_crazy
May 29, 2007 at 12:46 pm

#886734
1

Tank Girl

@tank-girl

Member
Just watching this on the news……..

and absolutley stunned that it is allowed?!!!! :crazy::crazy:

I also have seen my friends family go through hell, whilst their dad was ill, dyalisis daily at home and arguments as other family members would not be tested for compatability etc, and now his coming to terms with the fact that someone had to die for him to live a ‘normel’ life again…..

Absolutley awful IMHO

quoting ‘the show is to highlight and raise awareness of the lack of donors ‘- well I think there are alternative more ethical ways of doing this!
May 29, 2007 at 7:57 pm

#886733
1

Raj

@raj

Member
Its just wrong :you_crazy
May 29, 2007 at 9:31 pm

#886736
1

imported_rach

@imported_rach

Member
i agree its tottally disgusting, how far is reality televison going to be pushed??

i remember seeing clips of an american reality show a while back where parents who couldnt have children and were looking to adopt went onto a reality show to win a baby, that was disgraceful enough.

turning someones life into a game show is just so wrong.
June 4, 2007 at 8:35 am

#886741
6

Angel

@angel

Moderator
Staff
Looks like it was a hoax to open peoples eyes :hopeless:

Quote:

It became the most controversial Dutch TV programme ever, and a talking point from Brussels to Berlin.

Could BNN’s Big Donor Show really be as “crazy” and “unethical” as it was cracked up to be?

Broadcaster BNN kept its cards close to its chest, and during the programme’s final moments it became clear why.

Lisa, the terminally ill woman who was giving away her kidney as a grand prize, turned out to be Leonie, an actress.

Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende, for one, must have heaved a sigh of relief.

Making a statement
Broadcaster BNN does have a reputation to uphold. Not for the kind of ruthless commercialism that has been the breeding ground of reality TV, but for provocation and guerrilla tactics.

That was what its founder, Bart de Graaff, was famous for. And the Big Donor Show was nothing if not a memorial to Bart, who died from the effects of kidney failure at the age of 35 in May 2002.

Before the show went on air, details were kept suspiciously vague.

Rest of the story here : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6714287.stm
Author

Posts

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.