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ethical issues in organ donation
conclution about organ donation
ethical issues in organ donation
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In modern medicine, we have the ability to transplant organs from one person to another, with the hopes that this will greatly improve the length and quality of life for the patient receiving the transplant. Ten years ago, there were 53,167 people on the transplant list. By the beginning of 2015, the list increased to over 123,000 people waiting for that miracle call stating that they found a match and the transplant can now happen. One reason for the increase in people on the list is that people in the age group between 50-70 years old are now considered to be viable candidates for transplant due to medical advances. However, by December, 2014, twenty-one people were dying each day while waiting for a transplant. (Benjamin Samstein, 2015) This brings us to a question, should an alcoholic who had previously been lucky enough to have a liver transplant, be allowed to get another liver transplant after he let his alcoholism ruin another liver? When someone is in need of a transplant, there are several factors that are looked at in deciding whether or not the patient will be placed on the transplant list. Patients receive points for medical need, tissue type and time on the waiting list. Doctors then use a computer algorithm to decide who gets the organs available. Typically, one’s overall health, age, ability to comply with the regimen of anti-rejection drugs and a strong support system also comes into the decision process as well. Geographical location of the donor organ is also very important in the decision making process. (Whitford, 2005) Due to the shortage of organs, not all on the list get the organs they need. If people would get past their fears with regards to stem cell research, we could grow perfectly viable h... ... middle of paper ... ...n to respect our bodies as the temples that they are. Use the medicine for when things happen that we can not control, not for when we lose control. Works Cited Abhinandana Anantharaju, M. D. (n.d.). Liver Transplantation for Alcoholic Liver disease. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Web. 22 Mar. 2015. www.pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publicationarh27-3/257-269.htm Benjamin Samstein, M. (2015). Bottom Line's Daily health news. Web. 22 Mar. 2015. www.botomlinesecrets.com/articvle.html?article_id=48034 Kluge, E. (2004). Ethics of Organ Transplantation. Canadian Medcial Association Journal . Perry, D. D. Ethical Conmsideration in organ transplants. Web. 22 Mar. 2015. home.eathlink.net/~davidlperry/organs.htm. Whitford, B. (2005, 11 28). Who gets the organs. Newsweek. Web. 22 Mar. 2015. www.newsweek.com/2005/11/27/who-gets-the-organs.html
However, Saunders begins his argument by arguing that the current opt-in system leads to a shortage in the supply of organs and this is a major concern. This results in numerous people who need organs dying while on waiting lists and also suffering while waiting for transplant as one of their organs is failing. This is Saunders’ first premise to support his conclusion to put an opt-out system in place. By putting an opt-out system in place, this will contribute to an increase in the supply of organs.
At the beginning of her argument, Satel claims that the current transplant list systems are ineffective, and are causing a shortage of organs availability, thereby allowing countless patients to suffer. At first, she makes an invali...
My personal opinion on the Cary Gallant case is that the people on the top of the waiting list should be those who are youngest and most in need for a liver transplant. It should not matter if the person is an alcoholic or not, if they desperately need one they deserve to be at the top of the list. The reason why I say youngest is that the younger people have their whole life ahead of them, and if they need a liver transplant at a young age, they deserve to get one. We should not be judging the person with their relationship with alcohol, if there is a risk that they would not survive the six months of being sober, there is no reasonable reason they cannot be on the list. Besides, if I was in the position of Cary Gallant or another person with
Carlstrom, Charles T., and Christy D. Rollow. "Organ Transplant Shortages: A Matter Of Life And Death." USA Today Magazine 128.2654 (1999): 50. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Oct. 2016.
According to Pozgar (2016), the demand for organs and tissues for use in transplantation far exceeds the available supply. This is largely due to the increasing success rate of organ transplantation. This disparity between the supply and demand for viable organs has created an ethical dilemma. Since, there are not enough organs to help everyone, it must be decided who will, in effect, live or die. Those charged with making those decisions attempt to use a set of guidelines to determine who the beneficiaries will be. However, when a decision results in the suffering and/or death of another, there are going to be ethical questions.
In February 2003, 17-year-old Jesica Santillan received a heart-lung transplant at Duke University Hospital that went badly awry because, by mistake, doctors used donor organs from a patient with a different blood type. The botched operation and subsequent unsuccessful retransplant opened a discussion in the media, in internet chat rooms, and in ethicists' circles regarding how we, in the United States, allocate the scarce commodity of organs for transplant. How do we go about allocating a future for people who will die without a transplant? How do we go about denying it? When so many are waiting for their shot at a life worth living, is it fair to grant multiple organs or multiple transplants to a person whose chance for survival is slim to none? And though we, as compassionate human beings, want to help everyone, how far should our benevolence extend beyond our borders? Are we responsible for seeing that the needy who come to America for help receive their chance, or are we morally responsible to our own citizens only?
Throughout Cohen’s article he argues the fact that basically anyone even an alcoholic should be able to receive organ transplants. In the start of the article Cohens approach to explain his point is very interesting. He starts off his thesis stating that, “Alcoholic Cirrhosis of the liver-severe scarring is by far the major cause of end-stage liver disease.” I feel that what he is doing is understanding the problem. He is more stating
Liver transplants are a significant resource, however it is morally wrong to deny an individual treatment because they are the cause for their own disease. The six month sobriety criterion is discriminatory towards Delilah’s health issue associated with alcohol and her
Have you ever had the experience of a long wait that seems like it was going to take forever? Or how about when you went to the amusement park that you have been so anxiously waiting for, finally to got inline just to peer over your shoulder to see that dreaded 3 hour waiting sign? Well hundreds of thousands of men,women and children feel that same pressure each and every day just in a greater sense of urgency than waiting in that line at the amusement park. Organ failure is an ever growing problem in America around about 20 people die each day from this leading to thousands of deaths each year, with the number of donors dwindling each year.
First one must understand what exactly alcoholism is, and whom it effects. By definition, alcoholism is a primary, chronic disease, with genetic, psychological, and environmental factors, characterized by continuous impaired control over drinking. The disease can and does effect all people of all ages, sexes, races, and economic status. This is clearly a horrific issue, and ...
...e identifies the need for improvement not in the distribution of the organs available for transplant, but in the education of policy and regulating agencies on diversity, multiculturalism and ethics that need to be applied prior to approaching the general public and asking them to become organ donors for the good of everyone.
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.
Nadiminti, H. (2005) Organ Transplantation: A dream of the past, a reality of the present, an ethical Challenge for the future. Retrieved February 12, 2014 from http://virtualmentor.ama-assn.org/2005/09/fred1-0509.html
However, there are more patients waiting than there are available livers. So there are issues when deciding who would be an appropriate candidate for a transplant.
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).