Organ Donation

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

To deal with this issue, the U.S. and the UK have adopted organ donation systems, which require explicit consent from donors before their organs can be donated to others. These type of systems are called “opt-in” systems. Organs can only be used if donors or their relatives, upon the death of the potential donors, have specifically authorized the removal of organs (English, & Sommerville, 2003). Under an opt-in system, people who wish to donate their organs after their deaths must officially register this preference. If they do not register, then the law and the health care system presume they do not wish to donate. This, at least, is how the system works in theory. In practice, however, even if a potential donor has not officially registered as a donor, upon the death of the individual,

“6,935 people are dying because they had to wait. That’s 19 people dying per day for an entire year”(Barry). That’s nearly 7,000 lives; which is equivalent to to almost 25% of the current undergraduate body here at UW-Madison. According to Dr. Chris Barry, a transplant surgeon and researcher at the University of Rochester Medical Center, “19 people die per day on the organ donor recipient list because there aren’t enough people signing their organ donor consent forms”. He proposes that we need to increase people's knowledge and tear down the myths and barriers of organ donation to facilitate their decision to donate.

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.

“Each year almost 5,000 people die in the United States while waiting for organ transplants. Thus, cadaveric organs are extremely valuable resources whose allocation literally has life and death implications. Address how the following factors should be relevant to allocation (or whether they are indeed relevant at all): medical condition, probability of success, geographic location, waiting time, ability to pay, age, family status, and behavioral causes of organ failure” (Weimer, Vining, 201l, pg.155).

Organ donation could save the life of so many Individuals. One organ donor can save or significantly improve the lives of a minimum of seven others (Morgan, 2004). There has been a severe shortage in the availability of organ for transplantation. Presently, more than 40,000 patients in the United States are expecting organ transplants and it is guesstimated that about 60,000 people die yearly due to limited availability of organ for transplantation (Skumanich et al., 1996). The demand for organ donor is rising as transplant surgery turn out to be increasingly popular and successful in saving the lives of many individuals. Card

Over the years, organ donation challenges and demands increased inversely in proportion to the organ shortages. The primary mission of donor’s organizations is to save as many terminally ill recipients at the end stages of their lives as possible with an end goal of giving these recipients a normal a life span. The significance of organ donation is to restore an ailing person’s quality of life. The ongoing issue of organ shortages may be a symptom of the current program that present an idealistic portrait of how these issues may be resolved. As a result, the mission and ultimate goal of organizations such as UNOS and Donate Life America, among others, is to obtain viable organs for their patients and to promote; education, empower altruism and establish quality ethics, and act as a resource for existing and potential donors.

Organ donations have encountered organ donor, and as a result, organ supply decreases. Over the years, organ donation challenges and demands increase inversely in proportion to the organ shortages. The primary mission of donor’s organizations is to save as many terminally ill recipients at the end stages of their lives as possible with an end goal of giving these recipients a normal a life span. The significance of organ donation is to restore an ailing person’s quality of life. The ongoing issue of organ shortages may be a symptom of the current program that present an idealistic portrait of how these issues may be resolved. As a result, the mission and ultimate goal of organizations such as UNOS and Donate Life America, among others, is to obtain viable organs for their patients and to promote; education, empower altruism and establish quality ethics, and act as a resource for existing and potential donors.

Throughout history, medical advancements and breakthroughs have been increasing exponentially, especially in recent years. These breakthroughs have had a profuse impact on our society as the average life expectancy in the United States has increased from 68 years in 1950 to 79 years in 2017. One of these revolutions in medicine is the process of organ donation. But unlike the majority of these medical innovations, organ donation has become a controversial topic amongst our society. Although organ donation is not a perfect process and may not follow all religious beliefs, it should be supported because it allows for medical advancements to occur throughout the world, follows strict regulations to ensure fairness, and allows for the gift of

I am personally extremely connected to this intensifying issue because I have witnessed first-hand both tragedy and great success involved with the both sides of organ donation through the lives of a donor and a recipient. Last year, one of my closest friend’s 12-year-old sister, Kenzie, tragically passed away unexpectedly from what was thought just to be a common migraine, but turned out to be so much more. I was forced to watch as one of my best friends, the rest of her family, and our entire town grieve her catastrophic death. This loss of life from someone who had only been here such a short time was

Every ten minutes, another person is added to the active wait list for an organ donation. That is six people every hour, 144 every day, and 1008 every week. Approximately 120 thousand people need an organ transplant to survive. Of all of those people, only 79 thousand people are on an active wait list, while only 20 thousand transplantations have been completed this year. There are not enough donors to meet the current organ demand, and of those that do donate organs, the costs incurred by the donor do not equal the benefits. The current organ donation system operates under subpar economical standards, and should be revised to allow trade of organs on the free market.

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

Innovative advances in the practice of medicine have increased the life span of the average American. This along with the growing population in the United States and has created a shortfall in the number of organs available for transplant today. The current system of allocation used to obtain organs for transplant faces difficulty because of two primary reasons according to Moon (2002). The two perceptions that stop potential organs donors are that the allocation criteria is unfair and favors certain members of society and/or that organs may be allocated to someone who has destroyed their organs by misuse (Moon, 2002). Many individuals decline to donate organs because anyone requiring an organ transplant is placed on a waiting list and it is possible that individuals who have destroyed their organs by their own actions or convicted criminals could receive donated organs before someone whose organs are failing through no fault of their own and positively contribute to society. When a celebrity or wealthy individual requires a transplant they are often viewed as "jumping" the waitlist but

The first successfully transplantation of an organ occurred in 1954, and since then the rates of organ donation have increased substantially (Welbourn, 2014). However, a big discrepancy exists between the amount of available organs and the quantity of people requiring one to survive. Thus, legislations have been made to minimize such discrepancy. Different countries have diverse copying mechanists on how to overcome this issue. Currently, Canada has the opt-in system in which any individual that wishes to become an organ donator may do so by registering (Eggertson, 2012). However, organ donation rates in Canada are quite small compared to other countries such as Spain, Belgium, or the United States – rates standing at 15.5 donors per million population in Canada compared to 35 PMP and 26 PMP in Spain and USA respectively in 2012 (Norris, 2011). Several countries worldwide have opted for an opt-out system in which individuals are presumed to have consent to be organ donors unless specified otherwise, and such countries have higher donor rates, but it is not known if the reason is specifically due to this presumed consent system (Norris, 2011). I believe that an opt-out system (presumed consent) would be beneficial in Canada because it addresses important ethical issues, including autonomy, beneficence, justice, and non-maleficence.

In the United States today, people lose their lives to many different causes. Though this is tragic, there are also a large group of people who could benefit from these deaths; and those people are people in need of an organ transplant. Although a sudden or tragic death can be heart breaking to a family, they could feel some relief by using their loved ones' organs to save the lives of many others. This act of kindness, though, can only be done with consent of both the victim and the family; making the donation of organs happen much less than is needed. The need for organs is growing every day, but the amount provided just is not keeping up. Because of the great lack of organ donors, the constant need for organs,