Following up on a previous post on kidney exchanges and operations research (which becomes a pun in this context!), Johns Hopkins Hospital has just done a six-way kidney exchange. Interestingly, this was not done done totally with friends and relatives:
The procedure was made possible after an altruistic donor – neither a friend nor relative of any of the six patients – was found to match one of them.
I would think that knowing the effect on six needy recipients was a great incentive for the altruistic donor.
Thanks to Mark in Auckland for the pointer!