Ethical Issues And Risks Of Organ Donation

The medical practice of organ transplantation has grown by leaps and bounds over the last 50 years. Each year the medical profession takes more risk with decisions regarding transplants, how to allocate for organs, and most recently conducting transplants on children with adult organs. “An organ transplantation is a surgical operation where a failing or damaged organ in the human body is removed and replaced with a new one” (Caplan, 2009). Not all organs can be transplanted. The term “organ transplant” typically refers to transplants of solid organs: heart, kidneys, liver, pancreas, and intestines. There are two ways of receiving an organ transplant: from a living human or an organ from a

Between July 2000 and December 2002, there were 129 organs that were recovered from deceased donors and directed to particular recipients. Federal law explicitly allows for this option, although some state laws have placed limits on it. In particular, some states have said organs cannot be directed to a race or class of people, but must be designated instead to an individual. This change came after a case in Florida when family members of a white supremacist sought to restrict their donation to white recipients.

The shortage of organ transplants has been an ongoing crisis for years; the growing list of patients awaiting transplants has no end in sight, and the number of people dying while they waste away on the waiting list is not going to go down unless something changes.Society has turned away from alternatives to our archaic organ donation program, but there are other options available.The transplant community and society as a whole need to step back and rethink--to adopt a more open-minded views on organs as a resource in order to save lives and make meaningful changes to the national transplant program.

The medical industry had been achieving more in the stage of medical advancements, though they are still in the early phase. Artificial organs have been one of those achievements. Although they have achieved such, artificial organs are not perfect. Most doctors as well as patients would prefer to replace a dying organ with a compatible human organ, rather than with an artificial or animal organ. Yet due to a there being less organs donated than recipients, artificial and animal organs are becoming more common in transplants. Most of this issue is because people are unaware of how organ donation works, the organs that can be donated, how many people are in need, and the advancements that have happened in the field. Organ donation saves hundreds of lives every year, but many lives are recklessly lost due to a shortage of organ donors.

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.

They think about what its like to give away a kidney or something as little as bone marrow. You need to think about the people it benefits. One french woman awoke to find half her face was eaten off by her dog. Later she ended up having a face transplant surgery where they reconstructed her missing parts of her face to give her a whole new one. Her life has been benefitted immensely how she is back to normal. Face Transplant receiver Isabelle Dinoire says, " Dispite their pain, their mourning, they agreed to give a second life to people in distress. Thanks to them, a door to the future is open to me and to others." and "in the end I never really suffered." So you see how the surgery has benefitted her life immensely with little suffering at all. How would you like to walk around with no face? The face is the most seen part of the body, its never covered up. She is very happy now and couldn 't be any closer to better if she wanted too.

Advancements in medicine have allowed for the ability to transplant organs from a cadaver to a living patient. Immunosuppressive drugs have been developed to block the bodily rejection of organs from the deceased making transplantation possible. When an individual dies The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act allows for tissue and organs of the cadaver to be used for transplantation (Garrett, Baillie, & Garrett, 2001). This document is a set model or regulations and laws concerning organ donation that all 50 states have passed in some measure. Organs such as the kidneys, heart,

The topic of organ donation can be a very controversial subject when the widely accepted policies are questioned or challenged. The current procedure for organ donation in Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as many other parts of the Western world, is that in order for one’s organs to be donated, that person must have first given express consent while alive by way of filling out a form when obtaining or renewing their driver’s license or MCP card. This person is then listed as an organ donor and, providing that their organs are fit to use after death, will have their organs donated to those in need.

The need for organ donors dramatically increases each year because the number of organ donors grows much more slowly. “Every 10 minutes another person is added to the waiting list” (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services). Since people are being added to the waiting list so frequently, the need for registered donors is greater than the need for support of donation. Most people agree with organ donation, but few are actually registered as organ donors. “In fact, 95% of U.S. adults support organ donation but only 54% are actually signed up as organ donors” (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services). The amount of people who need organs grows everyday, but the lack of individuals who are registered to donate could cause tremendous problems in the future.

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

There are organ shortages in the United States, which makes organ donation a health concern: “Today, there are nearly 118,000 individuals waiting for an organ transplant to live healthier, more productive lives. For some people with end-stage organ failure, it is truly a matter of life and death,” (Moritsugu, 2013, p.245). Not only is there a shortage of organs but other consequences when it comes to organ donation, such as psychological concerns, complications after surgery and deciding who receives the organs. First off, some psychological issues occur when the recipient is waiting for their organs, as it will take time to adjust about their organ. The donor will also go through psychological issues as well, such as dealing with the

The main advantage of this medical surgery is that it is conceived for the purpose of saving people’s lives – one organ can

Organ donation is when an individual allows for the legal removal of major organs for someone in need of a major organ. Donation may be for research purposes, or, more popular healthy transplantable organs and tissues may be donated to be transplanted into another individual. Common transplantations include the kidneys, heart, liver, pancreas, intestines, lungs, bones, bone marrow, skin, and corneas. Some organs and tissues can be donated by living donors, such as a kidney or part of the liver, part of the pancreas, part of the lungs or part of the intestines, but most donations occur after the donor has passed away. While organ donation is a positive deed

As of 2015 there was 122071 people on the waiting list for a life saving organ transplant. This number increases each year; again in 2015 only 30,973 transplants occurred for the 122,071 people waiting (Organ Donor). Misconceptions surrounding the donation of organs can lead many people to chose to not donate both after they die and while they are alive.

Organ donation is when an individual allows for the legal removal of major organs for someone in need of a major organ. Donation may be for research purposes, or, more popular healthy Transplantable organs and tissues may be donated to be transplanted into another individual. Common transplantations include the kidneys, heart, liver, pancreas, intestines, lungs, bones, bone marrow, skin, and corneas. Some organs and tissues can be donated by living donors, such as a kidney or part of the liver, part of the pancreas, part of the lungs or part of the intestines, but most donations occur after the donor has passed away. While organ donation is a positive deed there is an uncomfortable