A Dutch television show in which a terminally ill woman would supposedly donate her kidney to one of three contestants was revealed as a hoax last.
At the last moment, presenter Patrick Lodiers of the Big Donor Show said the woman known as Lisa was an actress, and was not actually dying of a brain tumour as claimed.
The entire exercise was intended to pressure the Dutch government into reforming its organ donation laws and raise public awareness of the need for organs. The three prospective recipients were real patients in need of transplants and had been in on the hoax, the show said.
The programme concept had led to widespread criticism for being tasteless and unethical.
But Lodiers said that it was "reality that was shocking" because around 200 people die annually in the Netherlands while waiting for a kidney, and the average waiting time is more than four years. "I thought it was brilliant, really," said Caroline Klingers, a kidney patient who was watching the show at a kidney treatment centre in Bussum, Netherlands.
"I know these transplant doctors, and I thought they'll never go and actually do it. But it's good for the publicity and there are no losers."
The Netherlands' doctors association had called on members not to participate in the programme, and questioned its authenticity.
"Given the large medical, psychological, and legal uncertainties around this case, the KNMG considers the chance extremely small that it will ever come to an organ transplant," it said.
The show was produced by Endemol, which created Big Brother in 1999, introducing the concept of reality TV.
Viewers were called on to vote for their favourite candidate by text message for around 40p per vote during the show. Earlier in the week, the Dutch Cabinet refused suggestions from MPs to ban the programme, saying that would amount to censorship.
BNN had said the donation would happen before Lisa's death, but doctors often refuse to accept organ donations from terminally ill patients because the operation could hasten their death. Under Dutch rules, donors must be friends, or preferably family, of the organ recipient. Meeting on a television programme would not qualify.
PA