Organ Donation

There are several reasons besides the obvious ethical issues that make it wrong to sell organs from live donors. First of all the dangers presented to the donor. Most of the organ donors who would donate their organs for money will mostly come from third world nations. There are two main problems with this. The ignorance of the donor to the risks involved before he or she gives consent, and the fact that the “middle-men” involved are motivated by money so the most profitable way to remove the organ will be used, putting the health of the donor second. Another issue that would be presented is people will take patients off of life support earlier than they would otherwise if they are motivated by money.

The introduction of organ donation to society has since been a groundbreaking medical discovery and life-saving procedure, portrayed in myths dating back to Ancient times, before the 16th century. Early performed procedures we’re primarily successful skin grafts and transplants among individuals in need. It wasn’t until the early 1900’s that doctors had been documented performing experimental and risky transplants from animal organs to save human patients suffering from renal failure. Though successful, none of these patients lived more than a few days after the transplants. It wasn’t until December 23, 1954, that the first truly successful kidney transplant, from a living donor, was achieved. Dr. Joseph

In December of 1954, the first human organ transplant was performed in the United States between identical twin brothers. In the past sixty years, organ transplantation has become the gold standard in the treatment of organ failure from a number of underlying causes with dramatic improvements to recipients’ health and quality of life (Kaserman, 2007). From the first kidney transplant in 1954 to the late 1980’s, one of the biggest advancements was the use of cadaver organs. Organ rejection was the primary concern from the transplant team who knew that the use of cadaver organs posed higher risks of failure.

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

During the 18th century, the first successful transplant surgery took place. The surgery consisted of a kidney transplant. The surgery occurred in Boston, Massachusetts at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. The event happened through

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

In the late 1980s, transplant doctors in the Persian Gulf noticed that their patients were leaving for India and returning with transplanted organs. This was the first case of transplant

The first organ transplant was a kidney in 1954 and was between identical twins. As of May 2009, the percent of recipients still living after 5 years of receiving their new organs is astonishing: “95% for kidney, 85% for heart and liver, 75% for lungs” (BCW). “The high success rates of transplantation make the shortage of organs and tissues all the more tragic” (BloodCenter).

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.

Web MD states, an organ transplant is the surgical removal of a healthy organ from one person, alive or deceased, and transplanting the organ into another person whose organ is failing. Often an organ transplant is the last effort to save and individuals life. This is why it is so important for individuals to become organ donors. Not all organs in the body are transplantable. (Organ Transplants,16) The most common organs that get transplanted are: heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, and pancreas. Tissue such as bones, corneas, and skin can also be used from organ donors.

What if ones loved one could live a longer more fulfilling life instead of lying at deaths door? Most would say that they would want that to be the case in their lives and the lives of their loved ones. These are the questions that scientist and doctors ask themselves daily and have continued to strive to make it a reality for all. Therefore, one of the major advances in this direction came when they realized that organ transplants were a very real possibility. “Organ transplantation refers to a surgical operation where an organ is taken from one patient’s body (also known as the "organ donor") and is placed into another patient’s body (known as the "organ recipient")”( A Selection of Constitutional Perspectives on Human Kidney Sales, 2013). Encyclopedia of 20th century technology states that, “In the 1880s scientists and surgeons started developing a concept of organ replacement that formed the basis of the technique” (Schlich, 2005). However, through much trial and error the idea of human organ transplants being successful was abandoned by the 1920’s, for they could not figure out how to keep the body from rejecting the organs. By 1945, doctors came back to the idea that they could successfully transplant organs from one person to another. In 1954, the first successful transplant was performed where a kidney was transplanted from one identical twin to the other. Since then surgeons have grown

The recipient will have to anti-rejection medications for the remaining of their lifetime. "The liver is the only organ that will regenerate itself(www.organdonor.gov)." Organs can be distributed all over the United States based on many factors including; urgency, blood type, height, weight, geography, and waiting time on the waiting list.

On December 23, 1954, the first successful kidney transplant was performed in Boston, the first lung transplant occurred in 1963 in Mississippi, and the first heart transplant in South Africa in 1967. These unfathomable procedures drew more attention to the medical field than ever before. Only months after the spotlight had shone on organ transplant surgeries, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws created a guideline for standardizing tissue and organ donation laws in the United States. By 1971, all 50 states implemented the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act of 1968, which allowed people to have the right to donate their organs after death with a donor card or specified document. Upon further advancements made in 1983, cyclosporine (an anti-rejection drug), there were huge increases in transplants, and concerns on how to successfully distribute these needed organs. Because of this influx in demand, lawmakers passed the National Organ Transplant Act in 1984, which makes it illegal for

Organ transplantation is a medical act which involves the surgical operating by transferring or removing of an organ from one person to the other, or placing the organ of a donor into the body of a recipient for the replacement of the recipients damaged or failed organ which resulted from impairment of normal physiological function affecting part or all of an organism or an act that causes someone to receive physical damage.

I acknowledge that I have got my inspiration from the story segregationist by Isaac Asimov published in 1967. I used the idea of metallic organ transplants and broaden my thoughts on the basis of organ transplantation in the later future.