Recognized as one of the most gripping medical advances of the century, organ transplantation provides a way of giving the gift of life to patients with terminal failure of vital organs. Organ transplantation requires the participation of both fellow human beings and of society by donating organs from deceased or living individuals. The ever increasing rate of organ failure and the inadequate supply of organs have created a significant gap between organ supply and organ demand. This gap has resulted in extremely lengthy waiting times to receive an organ as well as an increased number of deaths among those waiting for an organ. These events have raised many ethical, moral and societal issues regarding supply, the methods of organ allocation and the use of living donors as volunteers including minors. It has also led to the practice of organ sale by entrepreneurs for financial gains in some parts the world through exploitation of the poor, for the benefit of the wealthy. This paper presents valuable information regarding organ transplantation while supporting the medical definition of the term “brain death” What is brain death? Physicians and other health care professional have often accepted that a person is deceased when his or her brain is dead. Although the widespread use of mechanical ventilators and other advanced critical care services have transformed the course of terminal neurologic disorders. Through the advancements in medicine and technology, vital signs
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.
By offering money, more individuals would readily give up their organs. This would lead to a surplus of organs for transplants. However, an increase in the price of organs would limit those who could afford surgeries. Although selling organs benefits the donor, the patients suffer from money concerns in addition to their original medical issues. One item frequently reveals the corruption of society: money. The process of organ transplants should hold the ultimate aim of saving lives, not the selfish bribe of gaining wealth. Other methods, such as providing life or health insurance, would be less materialistic options for encouraging organ donation. Currently, organ donation only offers the donor a personal feeling of well-being. Jennifer Bard discusses the corruption after researching about organ transplants at the Texas Tech University School of Law. Bard analyzes,“... it has so far been prohibited to offer any financial incentive for registering as a donor or to families of individuals who choose to allow donation after death… no solution to the reluctance of Americans to donate can work until this reluctance is taken seriously and the families who choose not to donate organs are listened to with respect” (121-122). Patients face drastic amounts of debt from medical bills. Rather than exchanging money for organs, help should be offered to ailing patients. Authors from the
In Richter's “Facing East from Indian Country” he changed the stare of early American past around and services the reader to reflect stories of North America during the period of European foundation rather than of the European establishment of North America. Well familiar to historians and early Americans for his significant study of the Iroquois, Richter has now wrote what might prove to be the final work in the effort to reintegrate Indians into the history of North America. Reviewers can’t visualize any historian or student dismissing the role of Native people in the history of colonial and early America after reading this book and learning about its many lessons. For this reason Facing East will enjoy a long shelf-life as one of the best
It is estimated that roughly 8,000 people die waiting on the transplant list each year. Our current system that resembles an opt-in system proves to be flawed considering it aids the tragic imbalance between need for and supply of transplantable organs. The President’s Commission on Bioethics has identified varying strategies for organ procurement that include the opt-out approach, a financial inducement model, and an organ market- and some scholars have suggested changing the standard of death to higher brain death. It is in my opinion that the most sound alternative to improve the organ deficit in the United States is to implement the opt-out model. This model promises an increase in transplantable organs that would in hopes off-set the many lives lost due to insufficient supply.
Kishore begins his paper by discussing the high demands for organ donation. By doing this Kishore illustrates that donation through waiting lists and from deceased individuals does not fill the needs of our population, resulting in around 17 people per day dying while waiting for a transplant. Kishore then discusses organs acquired through donation, which is widely regarded as an altruistic process. However, Kishore demies this notion by stating that donation of organs is not as altruistic as it seems. When someone donates their organ it does not go to the person more in need or most deserving but typically to someone known by the donor, to fulfill their own desire to not loose that person. Kishore even challenges anonymous donation stating that it is typically motivated by an attempt to satisfy one’s own needs, all donation is tainted by one’s own desires and are not truly altruistic. For Kishore these conventional methods of acquiring organs accept the idea that a recipient may benefit at the expense of another and that a donor may forfeit their bodily integrity. By accepting these two ideas, Kishore believes that selling organs should therefore be
In “Racial Disparity in Capital Punishment and its Impact on Family Members of Capital Defendants,” Jennifer Schweizer pointed out the ongoing racial disparity in capital punishment and how it affects family members of African American capital defendants. Additionally, racial disparity affects the different stages of the death penalty process, from charging through sentencing and execution. Moreover, African American families have a higher likelihood of being impacted by capital punishment. Schweizer examined how the death penalty influenced family members of capital defendants. The south has the biggest death row population. Death sentences are greater in states that have a past of lynching.
The allocation of scarce resources is an ongoing issue in healthcare today. The scarcity of many specific interventions include beds in the intensive care unit, donor organs, and vaccines during a pandemic influenza are widely acknowledged as an extensive issue in healthcare ethics. The allocation of scarce resources is the determination of how to equally and fairly use scarce medical resources available in a healthcare environment. This paper will focus on donor organs for transplantation and the ethical dilemmas associated with donation/transplantation. Organ shortage is the greatest challenge facing the field of organ transplantation in today’s world (Saidi, R., & Kenan, S., 2014). Ethical principles and regulation requirements often overlap.
Traditionally death was defined with the heart-lung criterion which referred to cardio-respiratory death. The lower brain is what controls respiration therefore the destruction of the brainstem causes loss of all cardio-respiratory vital signs and so death ensues. In 1981, a new definition arose which was labelled as Whole Brain Death. It is defined as an individual being declared dead, despite continuing functional vital signs. (Pojman, pp. 102) There is no consciousness, no control of brainstem reflexes, and a loss of cognitive functions. The individual’s survival is dependent on artificial mechanisms that are provided by doctors. This newer definition was created due to modern technology being able to revive someone who is cardio-respiratory
There is a well-established industry for the buying and selling of organs to those who are in dire need of a transplant, both legally and illegally, in many different countries. The legalization of the sale of organs in the United States would have serious consequences and raises many ethical dilemmas- regardless of religious beliefs. There are several ideas presented in this paper that present the issues that have hindered the progression of the legalization of organs. Currently, there is an organ waiting list of 123,897 patients on the organ recipient list ,the number of transplant that have actually occurred in January - August 2014 are 19,426 (Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network). There is no denying that there is a significant gap between the number of transplant surgeries performed and those awaiting a donor. The ever growing need for these lifesaving organs is clear, but to allow human beings to sell parts of their body is not the solution to this complex problem.
Per the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), a diagnosis of brain death is considered legally and clinically dead. It is evidenced by coma, absence of brainstem reflexes and apnea, and is defined as an irreversible loss of brain function. (Brain Death) As a healthcare provider, it can be easy to make a
The need of human organs for transplantation increases every single day and every passing month. Thousands of people are on the waiting list hoping for a chance at a new life. Unfortunately, the supply of available organs through organ donations is not able to provide for the growing demand of organs. According to a research conducted by the Hasting Center, “there are close to 100,000 people on the waiting list for a kidney, heart, liver, lung, and intestines, the pressure to find ways to increase their supply is enormous (Capland, 2014, p. 214). The shortage of human organs is leading people to participate in unethical acts. The pressure of finding available organs has resulted in healthcare professional and
Every day, 20 people die because they are unable to receive a vital organ transplant that they need to survive. Some of these people are on organ donation lists and some of them are not. The poor and minorities are disproportionately represented among those who do not receive the organs they need. In the United States alone, nearly 116,000 people are on waiting lists for vital organ transplants. Another name is added to this list every 10 minutes. This paper will argue that organ donation should not be optional. Every person who dies, or enters an irreversible vegetative state with little or no brain function, should have his or her organs-more specifically, those among the organs that are suitable for donation-harvested. A single healthy donor who has died can save up to eight lives (American Transplant Foundation).
This article holds that under certain circumstances, people should be allowed to donate their body parts to those who are in need. Three metaphors are presented to support the thesis. The gift metaphor holds that there is a general consensus that the body is a gift hence it is morally acceptable to donate them to people in need as a gift. The resource metaphor states that the state, authorities and the medical fraternity tend to perceive the body as a resource. The commodity metaphor holds that body organs are acutely scarce a situation that creates an extremely high demand from potential donors who are equally desperate to donate them to those in need. These metaphors suggest that donation of body parts to those in need is not only morally justifiable but also legally acceptable. It is very rational to donate a body part when the donor is well-informed that the transplant means giving life to another and that no suffering result from it. Organs are so valuable to be wasted because individuals neither think about the possibility of living after a transplant of after death.
Within the past few years, the demand for organs has increased at an alarming rate. This is due mostly to the fact that diseases and illnesses are becoming more prevalent and are brought on due to a significant change in American lifestyles. Failing organs can be caused by certain ways of living such as being a smoker or becoming obese. Many people are in need of a vital organ or know someone who needs an organ; these people are greatly impacted by a decision involving organ donation. Vital organs, such as the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and liver are involved, which means these people are in life and death situations. While organ transplants have created a way to give and receive life to others, the process has actually become controversial
Shakespeare wrote Macbeth also known as (The tragedy of Macbeth) in 1606, it is considered one of his darkest and best works. The play is set in Scotland, the play illustrates the physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for their own sake. It also shows how People make bad decision due to poor advice from their loved ones. This play is full of themes like Betrayal, Fear, and tragedy of moral order, witchcraft and evil.