H.Res. 94 (ih) Recognizing the generous contribution made by each living person who has donated a kidney to save a life. [Introduced in House] ...

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H. Res. 94

                 In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

                                                      November 8, 1999.
Whereas kidneys are vital organs that clean the blood by removing wastes, and 
        failed kidneys have lost the ability to remove these wastes;
Whereas in the United States more than 250,000 patients with kidney failure, 
        also known as end stage renal disease (ESRD), have died since 1989;
Whereas during 1996, 283,932 patients were in treatment for ESRD, and an 
        additional 73,091 patients began treatment for ESRD;
Whereas the most common cause of ESRD has consistently been diabetes, because 
        the high levels of blood sugar in persons with diabetes cause the 
        kidneys to filter too much blood and leave the kidneys, over time, 
        unable to filter waste products;
Whereas of the patients who began treatment for ESRD in 1996, 43 percent were 
        persons with diabetes;
Whereas ESRD can be treated with dialysis, which artificially cleans the blood 
        but which imposes significant burdens on quality of life, or with a 
        successful kidney transplant operation, which frees the patient from 
        dialysis and brings about a dramatic improvement in quality of life;
Whereas in 1996 the number of kidneys transplanted in the United States was 
        12,238, with 25 percent of the kidneys donated from biologically related 
        living relatives, 5 percent from spousal or other biologically unrelated 
        living persons, and the remainder from cadavers;
Whereas from 1988 to 1997, the number of patients on the waiting list for a 
        cadaveric kidney transplant increased more than 150 percent, from 13,943 
        to more than 35,000;
Whereas the annual number of cadaveric kidneys available for transplant has 
        increased only slightly, from 8,327 in 1994 to 8,526 in 1996, an 
        increase of less than 100 such kidneys per year;
Whereas from 1988 to 1997, the annual number of kidneys donated by living 
        persons rose 104 percent, from 1,812 to 3,705; and
Whereas in 1995, the 3-year survival rate for kidney recipients was 82 percent 
        if the donor was a living parent, 85 percent if the donor was a living 
        spouse, 81 percent if the donor was a biologically unrelated living 
        person other than a spouse, and 70 percent if the kidney was cadaveric: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes the generous contribution made by each living person 
        who has donated a kidney to save a life; and
            (2) acknowledges the advances in medical technology that have 
        enabled living kidney transplantation to become a viable treatment 
        option for an increasing number of patients with end stage renal 
        disease.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.

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