Living kidney donor transplant: medico-legal and insurance aspects

Kidney transplantation is quite a routine complex procedure, not without risks and consequences to the donor, the recipient, and the health care professionals. Kidney-related medical malpractice suits are growing rapidly, and for clinicians and surgeons, the risk of being sued can be only reduced by practicing high-quality medicine and by appropriately communicating with donors and recipients. Actually relevant guidelines are available including safety and quality assurance standards for procurements, preservation, processing, and distribution for organs to maximize their quality and thereby the rate of success of transplants and to minimize the risk of such a procedure. We also find it essential that practice of living donor kidney transplant is in line with the general rules of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and its Additional Protocol. In this article, financial incentives and insurance aspects related with living donors kidney transplants are also illustrated.