California Convict Offers Another Kidney To His Teenage Daughter

Jet, Dec 28, 1998

David Patterson has a gift he wants to give to his teenage daughter. But that gift could shorten his life.

Patterson, 38, is serving a 12-year sentence at California State Prison on a burglary and drug conviction.

Two years ago, he gave a kidney to his daughter, Renada Patterson-Daniel (JET, April 1, 1996), but that organ is now failing and she needs another.

Patterson's desire to save his daughter's life has sparked heated debate on medical and ethical concerns.

If Patterson gives his daughter his second kidney, he will have to go on dialysis for the rest of his life and would also have a shorter life expectancy, doctors note.

Medical experts at the University of California Stanford Health Care Medical Center, where Renada has been a patient, are reviewing the case. They are trying to determine if the organ transplant request violates the doctors oath to "first, do no harm."

Wade Smith, chairman of the hospital's ethics committee, told USA Today: "Every institution has systems in gear to very carefully scrutinize the fights of the donor as much as rights of the recipient. If we hurt this patient by taking his second kidney, do we violate the covenant?"

Patterson's daughter, Renada, told the newspaper, "We shouldn't even have to ask them. I don't think they should have the right to tell me no, because it's not their life. It's mine and my (father's)."

Renada's mother, Vickie Daniel, told the newspaper, "We have made a decision for our children and we want it to stand. We've got a problem here in America if we allow the ethics people to come into our homes and make decisions for us."

The problem is also compounded by the possibility that Patterson's second kidney might not be suitable for Renada after all, since her body already is rejecting his first kidney.

Patterson, whose prison term ends in the year 2003, remains steadfast in his quest to save his daughter's life.

"He understands the ramifications," prison spokesman Billy Mayfield told USA Today.

The hospital ethics committee was expected to reach a decision at JET-press time.

Meanwhile, Renada is on a kidney transplant list. The average wait is anywhere from two to three years.