Waiting for a Kidney
In the United States there are 122,365 people waiting for organs to be donated; of those 100,218, are waiting for a kidney transplant. The transplant list is so long that some patients wait up to 10 years to receive a kidney. These patients wait in agony for a kidney they may never receive. An article by Barbara Mantel affirms that the most common reasons for kidney transplant include: Hypertension, Diabetes mellitus, kidney stones, Inherited Kidney disease, and inflammatory effects of drug therapy for other diseases. The U.S Department of Health and Human Services records show that in 2012 there were 30% more deceased Kidney donors than living donors. The difference between living and deceased kidney donor makes a big difference. Explore transplant argues that, “Living donor transplant last longer than deceased donor transplant because the kidney is removed from a healthy patient as opposed to a dead one” (“Deceased and living Donation, Explore transplant”). They also argue that living donor transplants last 15-20, while deceased donor transplant last 10-15 years. This can be the deciding factor in whether a patient may need another kidney transplant in the future. Statistics show that only 30 to 40 percent of Americans designate themselves as organ donors on their driver’s license (Organ donor.gov), but what about the other millions of Americans, who poses healthy functioning kidneys? That percent of Americans leave the decision in their families' hands, once they die. However, not all families allow their loved ones to donate their viable kidneys. This type of decision may end the life the life of another human being. To avoid this type of situation and ...
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...e 21 years old and are mentally stable are automatically included under HOTA (Chew). Those who do not want to be included in HOTA must opt out before they are considered brain dead, after that doctors are legally allowed to take all of their viable organs. However, all those who opt out have less priority on the transplant waiting list (Chew). Meaning, that if they ever need a transplant their name automatically is at the bottom of the list. HOTAs main purpose is to boost the number of organ donations. This law also allows for payments to be made to living donors as reimbursements (Chew). Since this law has come into effect experts claim that donation rates in Singapore are very low (Chew). The National Organ Transplant figures that between 2004 to last year transplant of kidney went from 269 to 123. Proving that HOTA was not effective in boosting organ donations.
In “Death’s Waiting List”, Sally Satel presents a strong and compelling argument for the implementation of changes to the organ donation system. The author addresses a shortage of organ donations due to the current donation system in the United States, which puts stipulations on the conditions surrounding the donation. She provides ideas to positively affect the system and increase organ donations.
...ne article, The Troubling Shortage Of Organ Donors In The U.S., makes it well known that there is a huge shortage of organ donors throughout the united states. It emphasizes that the need for kidneys is bigger than the need for other organs. The number of people needed a kidney is triple the amount of the people that are receiving the kidneys. The article states, “Now the United Network for Organ Sharing is considering changing the rules for kidneys to be more like hearts, matching younger donors with younger recipients and also giving priority to the healthier patients” (Siegel). This view point will help defend my argument on seeing that we need to find a way to solve organ shortages throughout the united states. I argue that everyone should be a priority patient, and they should find a way to solve organ shortages, that way everyone would be a priority patient.
Turner, L. (2009). Commercial organ transplantation in the Phillippines. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics , 18, 192-196.
Currently more than 118,617 men, women, and children are waiting for a transplant. With this high demand of organ transplants there is a need of 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 desideratum of organs. Organ transplants followed by blood into a donating organ transfusions, are ways medical procedures are helping better the lives of the patients.
It’s important to realize that many Americans believe organ donation should simply be just that, a donation to someone in need. However, with the working class making up roughly 60% of society it’s extremely unlikely that a citizen could financially support themselves during and after aiding someone in a lifesaving organ transplant. The alarming consequence, says bioethicist Sigrid Fry-Revere, is that people waiting for kidneys account for 84 percent of the waiting list. To put it another way Tabarrok explains, “In the U.S. alone 83,000 people wait on the official kidney-transplant list. But just 16,500 people received a kidney transplant in 2008, while almost 5,000 died waiting for one” (607). Those numbers are astronomical. When the current “opt-in” policy is failing to solve the organ shortage, there is no reason compensation should be frowned upon. By shifting society’s current definition regarding the morality of organ donation, society will no longer see compensation for organs as distasteful. Citizens will not have to live in fear of their friends and family dying awaiting an organ transplant procedure. A policy implementing compensation would result in the ability for individuals to approach the issue with the mindset that they are helping others and themselves. The government currently regulates a variety of programs that are meant to keep equality and fairness across the
There was a lot of shortage for kidneys. On March 6, there was a remaining list of 113,145 in addition to 91,015 waiting for kidneys. Second, in 2011, there was 15,417 kidney transplants done in United States, which 10,185 was from decreased donors and 5,232 was from living donor. In fact, seventeen people die every day while waiting for a suitable organ which can save their lives. This shortage of less organs had led to many violations. For example, “A
Altruism is a complex principle and is defined as an unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others (Altruism, n.d.). She claims that medical professionals were once cautious about living-donation between relatives due to the interdependence but does not give supporting evidence. The fact that it could be a reality in some cases shouldn’t negate all others. Knowing that you alone could save a family member holds great power and respect. Scheper-Hughes does not argue in this article that the receiving a living organ will not benefit the recipient. “In two-haplotype matched living-related donor kidneys, transplants have a 50% chance of achieving 24 years of functioning” (Kaserman, 2007). Life expectancy post-transplant has lengthened
Although it seems that majority of the problems associated with organ donation are due to the physical lack or organs, there is another contributing factor. Even if there were an unlimited amount of organs available for transplantation, many uninsured and poor patients still couldn 't receive their transplant. These groups of people do not have equal access to post-transplant immunosuppressive medications. These medications are very expensive, so therefore the wealthy and well-insured do have an advantage on the national waiting list, just because they can afford these medications (AMA, 20017). Without having these immunosuppressants, an equal opportunity to live is not guaranteed, even though a patient may receive the new organ. Although seemingly fair and equal, when looked at through the lense of a conflict theorist, organ donation has many problems and
Department of Health and Services, unfortunately, of the 124,000 men, women, and children waiting on the organ donor list, an average of 21 people will die each day without ever getting the call for good news of the donation they needed. And every 10 minutes another name is added to the national organ transplant waiting list. Although there have been great advances in medical technology and donation, the demand for organ, eye and tissue donation still vastly exceeds the number of donors. The only way to make a difference is to raise awareness and persuade others to become donors. Statistics from Donate A Life America show that in 2014, more than 8,500 deceased donors made possible approximately 24,000 organ transplants. In addition, there were nearly 6,000 transplants from living
Since the 1970s, organ transplants have been in trouble with over 10 Americans dying daily while waiting on the transplant list (Fentiman, 1998). Organ donation can bring about extensive ethical matters, but humans can choose and should choose to donate organs and tissues. Organs from living donors are lung, liver, intestine, pancreas, heart, and kidney (Cook, 2006). Postmortem, the entire body can be donated and used to save the life of another. In either case, the ability and/or right to donate human organs in the United States is a moral responsibility as humans because it saves lives, decreases the chance of organ sales on the black market, and aids in furthering scientific research.
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
One of the utmost common myths about organ donation is that most individuals believe if they become registered donors, physicians will easily not try their best in saving their precious life and declare them dead early for the intent of obtaining one’s organs (Hyde, Wihardjo, & White, 2012). Generally, myths like this one that withheld most individuals to become donors themselves and as a result people in need of organ is taking a toll in meeting their demand. Another, dilemma is the majority of people don’t make proper arrangements on what to do with their organs once they expire (Forbes, 2007). In general, people forget to make the necessary arrangements once they passed away, and as a result, there is less donors to contribute their much needed organs. It is essential for the community to spread great awareness to address individuals with concerns that they may still have about organ donation. The effect of awareness addresses the public concerns which lead to an increasing number of organ donations that are desperately needed in the community. Even with the awareness individuals might still be reluctant, but being an organ donor is more than just donating organs, individuals can start with donating blood and tissue. Most people feel comfortable in this area, but studies have shown that individuals who donate blood and tissue are likely
Unfortunately, the life-saving potential of transplantation is limited by the shortage of organs available for donation. In general, several suitable organs from deceased individuals are not harvested for donation (for reasons that will be discussed later) and this largely contributes to the shortage1. In 1968, the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act gave individuals the right to donate organs and tissue in the United States1. Donors can either be living or deceased. Living donors are individuals who choose to donate portions of vital organs or a single kidney. Their donations can be directed to a specific recipient or can be an indirect altruistic donation; however, altruistic donations are very rare. Majority of donations come from deceased donors2. Deceased donors are individuals who have been medically declared dead, and who have previously registered as organ donors or whose legal representatives (usually their family members) have authorized organ donation on their behalf. One deceased donor can make up to eight donations from different organs, and therefore, can save up to eight lives4. Candidates for donation are chosen based on their blood-type (it must match the donated organ) and their medical need for a donation (the most critically ill patients are more likely to receive donations). The organs that are currently approved for transplantation are the kidney, heart, lung, and liver. Although living donations are a significant proportion of donations in the United States, this paper will focus on increasing the number of deceased
One of the most important and prevalent issues in healthcare discussed nowadays is the concern of the organ donation shortage. As the topic of organ donation shortages continues to be a growing problem, the government and many hospitals are also increasingly trying to find ways to improve the number of organ donations. In the United States alone, at least 6000 patients die each year while on waiting lists for new organs (Petersen & Lippert-Rasmussen, 2011). Although thousands of transplant candidates die from end-stage diseases of vital organs while waiting for a suitable organ, only a fraction of eligible organ donors actually donate. Hence, the stark discrepancy in transplantable organ supply and demand is one of the reasons that exacerbate this organ donation shortage (Parker, Winslade, & Paine, 2002). In the past, many people sought the supply of transplantable organs from cadaver donors. However, when many ethical issues arose about how to determine whether someone is truly dead by either cardiopulmonary or neurological conditions (Tong, 2007), many healthcare professionals and transplant candidates switched their focus on obtaining transplantable organs from living donors instead. As a result, in 2001, the number of living donors surpassed the number of cadaver donors for the first time (Tong, 2007).
Iran, which has the world’s only regulated system for compensating a kidney donor, has practically eliminated the wait for kidney donation. While Iran’s numbers seem promising when compared to the wait list in the United States, their numbers are still questionable. First, Iran has an authoritarian government, which is widely distrusted in the global community; therefore, many do not trust the accuracy of the numbers which they report. Additionally, Iran has not produced any long-term follow-up information about the donors and the recipients. Despite the reported $3,500 - $5,700 that living donors received, seventy-nine percent of donors could not afford follow-up care. In addition, Dr. J. Richard Thistlethwaite, a transplant surgeon at the University of Chicago, states that “The stigma associated with selling your organs was so strong that 98% did not want to be identified as organ donors” (Stevens...