Kidney show a hoax!

TV company Endemol says a Dutch reality show featuring a contest to win a kidney is a hoax.

The Big Donor Show was billed to feature a terminally-ill woman choosing a recipient for her kidneys. However, at the last minute the programme's producers revealed on air that the woman starring on the reality show was an actress.

But the contestants trying to win the kidneys are genuine and are still in need of organs. All knew the programme was a hoax before they agreed to participate.

Programme makers Endemol said their show was intended to focus on the shortage of donor organs in the Netherlands.

(Kidney patient Caroline Klingers and her daughter Helen watch the live broadcast of the "Big Donor Show" on a television at the Kidney Patient Center in Bussum, central Netherlands, Friday June 1, 2007. The BNN television network said show is intended to draw attention to the shortage of organ donations for transplant. Doctors scoffed at the idea of a donation without careful screening to match the tissues of the donor and recipient, and the program has been widely condemned around Europe as tasteless and unethical. The network has identified the donor only as "Lisa," a 37-year-old woman with an inoperable brain tumor. During the show, BNN says, she will hear interviews with the three candidates, their families and friends before choosing who will get her kidney.)

Paul Römer, Managing Director of Endemol Netherlands, said: "If the Big Donor Show had been real it would indeed have been shocking but these facts illustrate that the reality is far more so.

"In staging this programme our goal has been to prompt a debate about this crisis in the Netherlands.

"In fact the impact of this has gone far wider than we imagined. This is an issue that goes beyond Dutch borders and across Europe. The message we want to send is that people need to take action now and fill in a donor card."

The Big Donor Show was condemned by Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende ahead of transmission and sparked controversy worldwide.

An Endemol spokesman told a news conference held after the programme: "I hope the indignation about the show will give way to indignation about the shortage of donors."

Speaking from experience, I have a step-son who almost died five years ago while waiting for a donor kidney.

Ontario is considering putting into place a law that makes organ donations automatic unless you specifically indicate you don't want to donate.

This is a great idea and should be implemented everywhere in North America.

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God-101 (what the church doesn't want you to know!) www.God-101.com