Is Organ Worth A Surgical Procedure?

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

Since that time donation has been the only way to increase the current supply of transplantable organs. Some people are uncomfortable with the idea of organ donation due to misconceptions and lack of knowledge. In fact, organ transplant recipient Dr. Phil H. Berry, Jr. points out that there would be less deaths of people waiting for transplants, “if Americans would overcome their reluctance to become organ donors” (29). Organ donation whether it is upon your death or giving a part of a liver or one kidney while you are alive is a charitable gesture towards your fellow man and could give meaning to the end of your life. The mere act of donating could bring more peace to your loved ones at the time of your death and as a result, you could give

Every day lives are changed when donor organs are provided. The tragedy and loss of one family turn into hope and unbounded promise for another family. A recipient's life is transformed and given a second chance with a donor's gift of life. Although there are many supporters of organ transplants, many others reject the practice.

According to United Network for Organ Sharing (2010) organ donations and transplantation are the removal of organs and tissues from one person and placed into another person’s body. The need for organ transplantation usually occurs when the recipient organ has failed (UNOS, 2010). Organ donation can save the lives of many individuals who are on the waiting list for an organ donation. Becoming an organ donor can be a difficult decision. Many people have the false beliefs about being an organ donor. An example would be if organ donor is on their driver’s license and a person is in a life-threatening accident everything will not be done to save their life. There is an increase need for organ donors and unfortunately the need for organ

Please try and consider the following situation. You’re sitting in an emergency room, waiting for your dad to awake after falling into liver failure, costing him to need a new liver. Not knowing if it’s possible, crossing your fingers. You wish you could help, but you can’t. Someone else can. An organ donor. According to organdonor.gov, about 116,000 U.S. citizens are waiting on the organ transplant list as of August 2017. To put that number into perspective, that’s more than double the amount of people that can fit into Yankee Stadium. And to make matters worse, 20 people each day die waiting for a transplant.(organdonor.gov) Organ donation can offer patients a second chance at life and provides

Recent medical advances have greatly enhanced the ability to successfully transplant organs and tissue. Forty-five years ago the first successful kidney transplant was performed in the United States, followed twenty years later by the first heart transplant. Statistics from the United Network for Organ Sharing (ONOS) indicate that in 1998 a total of 20,961 transplants were performed in the United States. Although the number of transplants has risen sharply in recent years, the demand for organs far outweighs the supply. To date, more than 65,000 people are on the national organ transplant waiting list and about 4,000 of them will die this year- about 11 every day- while waiting for a chance to extend their life through organ donation

Organ donation begins with a person who recognizes an opportunity to help others, enrolls in a state donor registry, and shares the decision to be a donor with family members and friends. The culmination of

Beep beep beep. That's the sound you listen to as the monitor beeps in your ICU room, while you lay in the bed for days on end waiting for a new organ. This is the everyday life of many people who need an organ transplant. Organ donation is an option that you have to take. Organ donation should be encouraged for multiple reasons, but to name a few are one, because there are many people waiting on the UNOS list, two, because organ donation can save so many lives, and three, because it's simple to become one.

To begin, for many years organ donation has been an act of incredible generosity and the gifting of a life, as summarized in Sally Satel’s article “When Altruism Isn’t Moral” (226). The idea that someone would commit themselves to selflessly donating a organ to a patient, that in some cases the donor has no prior affiliation with the patient, may be heartwarming, but the method of helping those in need is becoming seamlessly more inadequate based on the rising death rate every year. Satel also goes on to state in her article the following:

It is estimated that there are 123,000 people in the United States are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant. The state of Arizona accounts for at least 2,400 of these individuals. Working as a patient care technician allowed me to put faces to these statistics. I had numerous patients who were desperately waiting to receive the gift of life. I will never forget the murky yellow tinted skin and sclerae of my patient desperately awaiting a liver transplant. His life and future completely reliant on the generosity of a fellow human. The greatest problem facing patient’s like the one aforementioned is the national shortage of organs. With each patient encounter, I became passionate about finding a way to increase the number of organ donors. I believe the solution

Pericles once was so wise to say, “What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven in the lives of others.” Early attempts at organ transplants stem back throughout history, however, the first successful kidney transplant was performed in 1954. Up until then, numerous people died deaths that could have been prevented by a transplant. The need for organs continues to grow as living increases in danger: new diseases emerge and new wars must be fought. Thankfully, this advancement within medicine has allowed for new fields to open up within society, and it has offered hope to those who had given up. Collaboration has never been greater than the teamwork shown throughout the process of organ transplants. “In

In the United States alone, there are about 120,000 people on the waiting list to receive a potentially lifesaving organ transplant (American). This number is so high, that many people will never receive the necessary organ in time. One simple way to help ease this number is by becoming an organ donor, which there are numerous ways to this. You can be a live donor and donate organs such as a kidney, liver, and bone marrow or you can also donate tissues, for example skin (American). The other option is register to be a donor when you die.

Once again, money is a significant incentive for people to do things they may otherwise not have done. If someone is in need of money, and they are offered a large amount to say, donate a kidney, I don’t believe this would be considered ethical. It is reminiscent of prostitution, in that a person is sell their body (or in this case part of their body) in exchange for money. A couple reasons prostitution is considered immoral in society is because it can involve exploitation and coercion. Similarly, those who are desperate for money can be exploited and coerced into becoming involved in selling their organs. Not only is this behavior immoral, but there may also be health consequences for the living donors who sell their organs for

Organ donation has been a part of healthcare since the first organ transplant was conducted in 1954 in Boston. (Capron, 2014, p. 26) From the outset, organ donation has been a sensitive subject within the medical community as doctors see it as doing ‘harm’, a medically unnecessary medical procedure on the donor, which conflicts with the Hippocratic Oath. Organ donation became a more palatable option for doctors as the science behind organ donation progressed and the first organ donation from a deceased donor was performed in the 1960’s. As science has improved behind organ donation and transplantation, what began between family members in the first cases of transplantation has expanded to now be conducted between unrelated people.

As of November 30th, 2017, 116,080 people formed the organ transplant waiting list. On average, twenty people on this list will die today. The number of people that need an organ transplant continues to grow; every ten minutes a new name is added to the list. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, “only 3 in 1,000 people die in a way that allows for organ donation” (“Organ Donation Statistics”). In order for a deceased person to give organs, the organs must still be alive to donate. Organ transplantation improved greatly over the last century, but with an insufficient amount of organs available, it limits breakthroughs. In essence, new methods need to replace the unavailable organs. These methods drastically improve the process of organ transplantation, and in the future, the overall humans well-being.