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As Drug Death Jar Summary

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In the article, As Drug Deaths Soar, a Silver Lining for Transplant Patients, addresses that the surge of deaths due to drug overdoses in the New England area has resulted in an increase in organ donations. It claims that these excessive deaths have been a blessing as a “unexpected lifeline” for those that have experienced a lengthy wait on the donor list. Just in this past year sixty-nine individuals that died due to drug overdose have saved the lives of two hundred and two others waiting for an organ. Although a drug users’ organs are considered high risk because they have a high potential in carrying diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C. The extensive screenings that are done to these organs make it feasible to donate the organ since the …show more content…

One maybe how safe is this organ? Since the organ comes from a drug user is it a possibility that the organ itself could go through withdrawal symptoms? How would this affect the organ receiving patient? The National Institute on Drug Abuse informs the public that “street heroin often contains toxic contaminants or additives that can clog blood vessels leading to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain, causing permanent damage to vital organs,” (Drug Facts: Heroin, 2014). The article by Seelye concludes that this is a safe process since there are rigorous testing and cleaning processes that take place before the actual transplant. Between the years of two thousand and six to two thousand and fifteen only two hundred and forty-nine hundred of one hundred seventy-four thousand and three eighty-eight, however only seventy-one of the two hundred and forty-nine perished due to the infected organ (Seelye, 2016). As a result of this process the resolution of this debate would benefit from a Kantian view. Since the rightness or wrongness in not the focus here. Instead the focus is the duty to mankind regardless of the whether one considers it right or wrong. However, Utilitarianism could also be used since, “we should choose as right action that which will promote the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people,” (Van Camp, 2014). In the end this decision of accepting a high risk organ is that of the patient after education and risk factors have been discussed with their healthcare provider. If I had to justify lawful organ donation from drug users, I would choose the Utilitarian and Kant Theory as my

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