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Ethical issues surrounding organ transplantation
Ethical issues surrounding organ transplantation
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Organ donation. Can you imagine your little child needs a kidney transplant? If child gets it in time, he will live a long, happy life. Without it, your child has a short time period to live. You signed up for kidney donor waiting list; time is ticking, time is running out, you do not believe it, but it is a long line, no donor was found; at the end you are lost your child…Unfortunately, this saddest end is really common in our life. Organ transplantation is one of the greatest achievements of modern medicine. But this achievement tragically out of reach for many thousands of people whose lives might be saved. There just are not enough organs for everybody. About 75,000 Americans are on the waiting list for kidney transplants. But in …show more content…
But it exists today: an illegal market in human organs, black markets. Selling a body part seems unethical, but a closer look, reveals no bright line in the laws of most countries. It is legal for men to sell their sperm, for women to sell their limited number of reproductive eggs or use their wombs as surrogate mothers, people who selling their hairs and blood. And it is not understandable and clear why the same standards should not be applied to organs donation such as kidney, part of liver. These organs donation are not riskier than other plain medical surgeries or operations. Research and experience in medicine shows that with one kidney and part of the liver which grow back fast person can live normal healthy life. Many people who might be persuaded that organ donation is safe have another problem: the burden of organ donation fall on those who are already financially disadvantage. Suffering of the poor people would be increased by a market for a human organ is not a trivial one. American law attempts to protect poor people by prohibiting for selling organs. The problem is these attempts hurt poor, donors, human lives. The results of not enough organ donors in United States, combined with the legal sale of organs, there is a black market also. Every year a thousands of people from wealthy countries, including US, travel to poorer, less legally serious countries to buy kidneys …show more content…
This is because legalizing the sale of human organs can result to some organizations that venture into this enterprise selling contaminated organs that will greatly affect the health of the patients who receives such organs. Many organizations are unethically managed and they can go to any extent to make money. Thus, the sale of contaminated human organs is not a surprise to such organizations. This will compromise the health of the public. The ultimate result for such trade will be loss of life and other health effects. The government and opposition legislators will be forced to chip in to address the situation that might be affecting the society negatively. With the victims being left fighting for their life’s there is no good which will be enjoy by the society. Opponents of the sale of human organs argue that the selling of human organs is perilous if not well regulated. They point out that some people can kill others to get their organs and sell them to earn a living .Such situations can be very dangerous because many lives can be sacrificed in pursuit of lives of very ill patients who might not eventually survive, despite receiving the transplants needed. This is a valid point because some will seek to earn a living even illegally which is very immoral an unethical. In accordance to morality, the action of killing a healthy person in order to save the life of an almost dying
When viewing organ donation from a moral standpoint we come across many different views depending on the ethical theory. The controversy lies between what is the underlying value and what act is right or wrong. Deciding what is best for both parties and acting out of virtue and not selfishness is another debatable belief. Viewing Kant and Utilitarianism theories we can determine what they would have thought on organ donation. Although it seems judicious, there are professionals who seek the attention to be famous and the first to accomplish something. Although we are responsible for ourselves and our children, the motives of a professional can seem genuine when we are in desperate times which in fact are the opposite. When faced with a decision about our or our children’s life and well being we may be a little naïve. The decisions the patients who were essentially guinea pigs for the first transplants and organ donation saw no other options since they were dying anyways. Although these doctors saw this as an opportunity to be the first one to do this and be famous they also helped further our medical technology. The debate is if they did it with all good ethical reasoning. Of course they had to do it on someone and preying upon the sick and dying was their only choice. Therefore we are responsible for our own health but when it is compromised the decisions we make can also be compromised.
In 1954, the first organ transplant was conducted successfully in the United States. (Clemmons, 2009) Nowadays, the technology of organ transplant has greatly advanced and operations are carried out every day around the world. According to current system, organ sales are strictly prohibited in the United States. (Clemmons, 2009) However, the donor waiting list in the United States has doubled in the last decade and the average waiting time for a kidney is also increasing. (Clemmons, 2009) In the year 2007, over 70,000 patients were on the waiting list for a kidney and nearly 4500 of them died during the waiting period. In contrast to the increasing demand for kidney, organ donation has been in a decrease. (Wolfe, Merion, Roys, & Port, 2009) Even the government puts in great effot to increase donation incentives, the gap between supply and demand of organs still widens. In addition, the technology of therapeutic cloning is still not mature and many obstacles are met by scientists. (Clemmons, 2009) Hence, it is clear that a government regulated kidney market with clear legislation and quality control is the best solution to solve the kidney shortage problem since it improves the lives of both vendors and patients.
Currently, more than 118,617 men, women, and children are waiting for a transplant. With this high demand for organ transplants, there is a need for supply. According to the OPTN Annual report of 2008, the median national waiting time for a heart transplant is 113 days, 141 days for lungs, 361 days for livers, 1219 days for kidneys, 260 days for pancreas, 159 days for any part of the intestine. With this world of diseases and conditions, we are in desperate need of organs. Organ transplants, followed by blood into a donated organ transfusions, are ways medical procedures are helping better the lives of the patients.
A pittance for your kidney? It’s highly unlikely that anyone would answer yes to that question; however what if someone offered significantly more than a pittance? A thousand dollars, or perhaps even five thousand dollars? Although the buying and selling of organs is illegal on American soil, it’s no secret that the opportunity exists in other countries around the world. “In America, we have waiting list for people who are trying to get kidneys, there they have people who are on a wait list to sell their kidneys” (Gillespie). It’s quite incredible how a country cut off from western civilization, like Iran, has found such an innovative way to encourage organ donation. In American society one needs to “opt in” if they wish to participate in the
“Organ Sales Will Save Lives” by Joanna MacKay be an essay that started with a scenario that there are people who died just to buy a kidney, also, thousands of people are dying to sell a kidney. The author stood on her point that governments should therefore stop banning the sale of human organs, she further suggests that it should be regulated. She clearly points that life should be saved and not wasted. Dialysis in no way could possibly heal or make the patient well. Aside from its harshness and being expensive, it could also add stress to the patient. Kidney transplant procedure is the safest way to give hope to this hopelessness. By the improved and reliable machines, transplants can be safe—keeping away from complications. Regulating
It is clear that a large demand for organs exists. People in need of organ donations are transferred to an orderly list. Ordinarily, U.S. institutions have an unprofitable system which provides organs through a list of individuals with the highest needs; however, these organs may never come. A list is
Organ Sale is the exchange of human organs for money. This topic is very debatable because some people view organ sales as morally wrong mainly due to the view that only the wealthy will be able to afford the purchase of organs. In addition, many believe those living in poverty will be taken advantage of because they need the money. The selling of human organs can be beneficial to everybody and should be legal. By making organ sales legal it will give individual donors a better financial life, create a safer environment for those who sell their organs, make organ transplants available to more people and most importantly will save many lives.
One of the biggest pitfalls within our medical field in today’s world has to be the lack of donations seen when it comes to organ transplants. On average, 17 people die each die each day in the failure to find a organ match and an astonishing 115 people are added to that very same list while this tragedy is occurring (Kishore 362). A topic of debate that has arisen from this senseless dying is whether or not to allow the sale of organs, similar to what is seen in Iran where they allow a market. However, opponents of this proposed solution argue that the idea would be “ineffective, perhaps counterproductive” and that "we can make the system of donation effective without such ethical risks” (Childress**). Proponents argue that if we as humans
In the United States, there are over one hundred thousand people on the waiting list to receive a life-saving organ donation, yet only one out of four will ever receive that precious gift (Statistics & Facts, n.d.). The demand for organ donation has consistently exceeded supply, and the gap between the number of recipients on the waiting list and the number of donors has increased by 110% in the last ten years (O'Reilly, 2009). As a result, some propose radical new ideas to meet these demands, including the selling of human organs. Financial compensation for organs, which is illegal in the United States, is considered repugnant to many. The solution to this ethical dilemma isn’t found in a wallet; there are other alternatives available to increase the number of donated organs which would be morally and ethically acceptable.
Even if organ sales were legalized, only a small group of poor people would actually sell their organs to make money. In MacKay’s essay, she regards poor people in third world countries as major resources for organ sales by stating there are poor people willing to do anything for money. Indeed, the natural desire of surviving would urge people to try every possibility to make money in order to maintain daily life and poor people are highly likely to be a major part of sellers. However, it does not necessarily mean poor people will really do everything as long as they could be compensated; every person has his or her bottom line for what they would do and what they would not do. Not all the poor would regard selling their organs as a proper way to make money. For example, S. M. Rothman and D. J. Rothman suggest in their article that as people in the modern society tend to have more acute sensibilities about the completeness of their bodies, organ sellers could suffer extreme shame in their community. For those poor who
Organ donation can be a beautiful gesture, but not necessarily for everyone involved. For the recipient of an organ, his or her body can function easier now. However, the same cannot be said for organ donors, who are limited due to the unequal trade for an organ and nothing. In fact, the number of organ donors decrease annually. Organ donors pay a huge price, so it is only fair that they should receive payment for what they do because they undergo difficult procedures, suffer physical consequences later in life, and most of them cannot afford the procedures needed to help them heal.
In conclusion, although there are some valid reasons to support the creation of an organ market based on the principles of beneficence and autonomy, there are also many overriding reasons against the market. Allowing the existence of organ markets would theoretically increase the number of organ transplants by living donors, but the negative results that these organ markets will have on society are too grave. Thus, the usage of justice and nonmaleficence as guiding ethical principles precisely restricts the creation of the organ market as an ethical system.
Just to enumerate a few facts about the dire need for kidneys, a look at the United States might cast a clear picture. As of March 6, the people who were on a waiting list for an organ transplant stood at 113, 143 with the majority waiting for a kidney transplant, 91, 015. In addition, in the year 2011, the US witnessed about 15,417 kidney transplants of which a significant 5,232 was from living donors. One of the critical questions should ask him or herself is, did this people voluntarily and without any undue economic coercion agree to donate their kidney? The answer is probably in the
First of all, selling organs shouldn’t be legal for two main reasons, which are saving lives and stop people from selling organs illegally in the black market. The world should understand that in many cases if someone didn’t get the organ they need they will suffer and have to die in some cases. This doesn’t means that the donors will have to give up their lives but, they can and will live healthy. For example if someone is dyeing and in need of a kidney and there is no chance for that person to live unless he gets one. Legalizing selling organs will saves this person’s life because he would easily buy an organ and complete the rest of his life without and problems. But in the case of that kidney that is in need, other people could sell theirs without having and problems that would affect them. Humans have two kidneys and one kidney that wills saves other person live is going to kill this person or even hurts.
Despite the dramatization above, this is the exact scenario that over100,000 people waiting for a kidney. However, only 17,105 kidney transplants were performed in 2014, of those, only 5,535 came from living donors. This means over 83,000 people went without the transplant they needed for a calendar year, and not everyone has the time available to wait that long (Mayo Clinic). Thus, the discussion on the viability of selling kidneys has had to come up as a possibility to lessen the gap.