Doheny Eye Bank

The public is well served when important issues of public policy provoke healthy discussion. The Times has stimulated such a discussion regarding the use of corneas for transplants (Nov. 2). As a result, the county coroner has adopted a policy of aggressively seeking permission from families of the deceased before removing corneas.

We must not forget that corneas obtained under the legislative consent law have saved the eyesight of tens of thousands. Corneas in the Doheny Eye Bank are made available--free of charge--to indigent patients at the four hospitals within the Los Angeles County hospital system. They are also sent throughout California and the United States.

In the past, demand for healthy corneas outstripped the supply, and people had to wait a long time for transplants--sometimes for years, sometimes fruitlessly. Because corneal tissue is highly perishable, the state Legislature adopted a law in 1984 that permitted the removal of corneas under certain circumstances if an autopsy were being performed.

The Doheny Eye Bank goes to great lengths--and considerable expense--to ensure the safety of its corneas. Corneas are used for transplantation only if they test absolutely safe.

Testing, research and other expenses result in a maximum charge of $1,750 for each cornea available for transplant. Still, revenues at the eye bank barely meet expenses, and there is no profit. The Doheny Eye Bank--and the agency we have retained to manage our facility, Tissue Banks International--are both nonprofit agencies.

As a cornea transplant surgeon, I hope that high-quality corneas will continue to be available on a timely basis for blind patients.

Nevertheless, the Doheny Eye Bank will support the coroner as he tries to explain to families that the use of corneas involves only taking a tiny, transparent sliver of tissue from the surface of the eye. This small act bestows a gift beyond measure to a sightless person.

RONALD SMITH MD

Medical Director, Doheny Eye

and Tissue Transplant Bank