Ethical Delemis - Brain Death

A continuing problem exists in trying to close the gap between the supply and demand of procured organs in the United States. An increase in the amount of transplant operations performed has risen significantly over time. As a result, a new name is added to the national waiting list every 16 minutes (Duan, Gibbons, & Meltzer, 2000). It is estimated that about 100,000 individuals are on the national transplant waiting list at all times (Munson, 2012). Something needs to be done before these numbers get completely out of control. Despite the introduction of Gift of Life and many other educational efforts, the United

It would also be important to consider the rules and regulations regarding organ transplants for this particular situation. Although, these doctors were trying to do the right thing for one patient they also needed to realize that the death row patient was still a patient and deserved the same rights as any patient that enters the hospital.

viii. Brain Death must be established- person must cease having neurons firing in the neuro system

Thesis: I believe that…whole brain death is the best definition of death suitable for the use of organ transplantation.

Throughout time Organ transplanting has been an important medical procedure that has been present, not only in the United States, but around the globe. It is the process of surgically removing an organ from on patient and then transplanting it into the other. This practice is usually used when a recipient’s own organ fails to function properly or has

The need for organ donations creates another ethical dilemma for Emergency Room Physicians. “Obtaining organs from emergency room patients has long been considered off-limits in the United States because of ethical and logistical concerns” (Stein, 2010). The shortage of organs available for transplant has caused many patients die while waiting. A pilot project from the federal government “has begun promoting an alternative that involves surgeons taking organs, within minutes, from patients whose hearts have stopped beating but who have not been declared brain-dead” (Stein, 2010). “The Uniform Determination of Death Act

Organ transplantation is a term that most people are familiar with. When a person develops the need for a new organ either due to an accident or disease, they receive a transplant, right? No, that 's not always right. When a person needs a new organ, they usually face a long term struggle that they may never see the end of, at least while they are alive. The demand for transplant organs is a challenging problem that many people are working to solve. Countries all over the world face the organ shortage epidemic, and they all have different laws regarding what can be done to solve it. However, no country has been able to create a successful plan without causing moral and ethical dilemmas.

Brain- death humans are difficult to classify as either dead or alive because of their conflicting states. For one part, brain- death humans have working internal regulatory functions, such as the ability for homeostasis, but lacked the complexity for external and high cortical functions. This includes the ability for thought, communicate and other survival functions Thus, one ethical dilemma is whether internal somatic functions are enough to consider a brain- death human alive, despite lacking the qualities that makes them “human”. To answer this question, Bragger juxtaposes the views of Dr. Alan Shewmon, a professor of pediatric neurology and a leading critic of the whole- brain argument and the 2008 White Paper on Brain Death, published by the President Council of Bioethics. Dr. Shewmon argues that despite lacking high-cortical functions, many brain- death mediated patients demonstrate qualities of living organisms, such as maintaining homeostasis and eliminating

The transplant department at the Cleveland Clinic saves lives on a daily basis, and the heart center is ranked number one in the world. People from all over the world come to the Cleveland Clinic for treatment, a fact that every care giver that works for the Clinic can be proud of. From the physician performing a procedure, to the janitorial staff that cleans the room, and everyone in-between, each one has their own part to play in the world class care of our patients.

The nurse who was looking after that patient was not aware of the request for transfusion until

Recovery Coordinators are fortunate to have the opportunity to save and enhance people’s lives through the recovery of organs, tissues, and corneas. Recovery Coordinators work with transplant recovery teams in operating rooms, completing tasks that assist with the procurement, and delivery of post-mortem organs. Coordinators also complete the physical removal of tissues and corneas from post-mortem donors. Coordinators travel locally and nationally to complete their role in the donation process. Coordinators must be knowledgeable of human anatomy, medical terminology, and sterile technique. Successful Recovery Coordinators are individuals with high endurance, someone who is able to manage unpredictable schedules, have a high attention to detail,

Ethical dilemma may also arise in cases where a patient may feel their right to DNR should be carried out when giving direct order. The DNR process, however, is required to be documented by a physician. Andrew Putnam (2003) presents a case where an eighty-eight year old patient’s code status was DNR; “However, the patient has never signed formal advance directive statement or assigned durable power of attorney for her health care to anyone.” (Putnam, 2003, 2025) Ethics can be simply stated as doing the right thing (Roberts, 2002, 242); but in this case ethics is questioned because the physician was faced with the decision to carry out the wishes of the patient or to make a decision based on legality. In this case, it may have been morally right to carry out the wishes of the patient who wanted DNR orders carried out, but it may have been the right choice to do the legal thing and not carried out due to lack of signed documentation.

D. Thesis - Organ donation and Transplants are the most remarkable success stories in the history of medicine. They give hope to

As an administrator I would need to take into consideration the patient’s autonomy, autonomy is recognizing an individual’s right to make his/her own decisions about what is best for them regarding their health care (Pozgar, 2012). The patient’s rights always should be considered before any decisions are made by any other family members. In this scenario it is clear that the patient is unable to make any decisions, the patient has suffered a serious brain damage, and although it is not complete brain death, we must determine how to proceed.

There are many ethical issues that the medical field faces daily. One major issue that is a common debate recently is death and dying and the ethical dilemmas associated with this stage in life. There are many different routes a patient can take when they are diagnosed with a terminal illness, two routes that are often up for debate are palliative care and physician assisted suicide. Many ethical concepts are brought up in the debate of these routes of care, sometimes even conflicting one another. Since medicine has advanced over many years we are experiencing a growing population of elders. With this increase in the elderly population, the debate of death and dying has become an important topic to