Every Person in the United States, Not Just Legal Citizens, Should Automatically Be Considered Organ Donors Unless Otherwise Specified
Rough Draft
UFID: 9169-9185
June 6, 2015
I. Background
According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, organ transplantation is the process of surgically transferring a donated organ into a patient with end-stage organ failure (U.S Dept of health and human services website). End-stage organ failure can be attributed to a number of diseases. Diseases such as cardiomyopathy, diabetes, hypertension, polycystic kidney disease, as well as a number of others could potentially result in suffers of these diseases to require an organ transplant.
Though sophisticated
…show more content…
With this in mind, in 1954, Dr. John Murray was able to perform the first successful kidney transplant using the kidney of one identical twin and transplanting it the other, who went on to live eight years after the surgery. Then, in 1967, Dr. Christian Barnard performed the first heart transplant. In this case, the recipient only lived eighteen days following the surgery. It must be stated that the demise of the patient was not attributed to the failure of the new heart. The patient’s death was found to be cause be the pneumonia that was contracted by the patient due to his immune system being suppressed by the anti-rejection drugs he had to take.
While the first organ transplants started with kidneys and the heart, organs such as livers, today’s doctors can transplant lungs, pancreas, and intestines. In addition, bones, skin grafts, tissues such as the cornea, and even veins can now be transplanted in those that so desperately need them. As described in NIH News in Health, with medical advances being made everyday, researchers and doctors have now changed organ transplantation surgery from a risky procedure to one that can now be viewed as routine. For instance, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute cites that 88% of patients survive the first year post-heart transplant surgery and 78% of patients survive the first
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
The demand for organ donors far exceeds the supply of available organs. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) … there are more than 77,000 people in the U.S. who are waiting to receive an organ (Organ Selling 1). The article goes on to say that the majority of those on the national organ transplant waiting list are in need of kidneys, an overwhelming 50,000 people. Although financial gain in the U.S and in most countries is illegal, by legalizing and structuring a scale for organ donor monetary payment, the shortage of available donors could be reduced. Legalizing this controversial issue will help with the projected forecast for a decrease in the number of people on the waiting list, the ethical concerns around benefitting from organ donation, and to include compensation for the organ donor.
Imagine you are laying in a hospital bed connected to multiple machines, IV’s and monitors. The only thing keeping you alive is the heart and lung machine, the team of doctors, nurses and specialist. Even with the help of modern medicine you will only remain alive as long as you stay in that hospital bed; attached to those lifesaving machines. Even with the help of those machines your life is not guaranteed. Now imagine knowing that the only thing that can save your life is a heart transplant, and having to wait your turn on a very long list to get one.
In order to be eligible for an organ donation list, you must be in end-stage organ failure. This means that one of the patient’s organs has not been working for a while and it is impossible for them to live without some kind of help or transplant. For many patients, end-stage organ failure can come as a shock even if they have known for months that one of their organs was failing. With kidneys, this means the patients are put on dialysis if they are not already. Dialysis is a process that mechanically helps to do the things that the kidneys normally do. This can include filtering waste and toxins out of the body. Many organs can be transplanted from living and dead donors, including kidneys, heart, lung,
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
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.
D. Thesis - Organ donation and Transplants are the most remarkable success stories in the history of medicine. They give hope to
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.
The first successful human organ transplant in the United States was performed on December 23, 1954. On that date, a kidney was successfully transplanted, with the organ donated by a living identical twin of the recipient (Kaserman, 2007). More than fifty years have now passed since that first successful human organ transplant and since then, organ transplantation has moved from the experimental stage to assume an important role in the treatment of organ failure stemming from a wide variety of underlying causes. Today, kidneys,
Organ transplantation is the removal of a healthy organ from one person and placing it into another whose organ has failed, or is injured. It is known to be life saving 80 percent of the time, but it is a major surgery that carries many me potential risks and complications- the biggest one being organ rejection. (WebMD) Organ transplants have quite some history. The first successful kidney transplant was performed not even a century ago, in 1954. Despite this small time gap, many technologies have been discovered in this field. Organ transplantation is being performed much more commonly but there are still many improvements that are needed to be made. (Transplant Village) Although organ transplants are supposed to save lives, it may not be worth the risks; it can easily cause health complications and economic instability to both the donor and recipient. For all, medical risks and psychological concerns can occur if the surgery is not successful, or if the donor and/or recipient do not recover fully. (Lohse) In order to prevent the body from rejecting an organ, immunosuppressant drugs are to be taken for the rest of the patient’s life. Immunosuppressant drugs, known as anti-rejection drugs, suppress the strength of the body’s immune system in order to lower the body’s ability to reject the organ that is recognized as foreign. But with this attempt for justice,
For those who do not know, organ transplants are a relatively new idea. Since the eighteenth century, doctors have tried to formulate ways to successfully transplant organs from one human to another. Nevertheless, it was not until the 1950’s that a transplant was successfully completed. Necessary medical breakthroughs like blood typing and immunosuppressant drugs are vital
Transplantation takes places quite successfully today between well-matched human beings. Majority of the organ recipients are able to live five or more years. Skin, cornea, bone marrow and kidney transplants are the most common today. Moreover, lung and heart transplants are
In 1954 the first organ transplant in history took place in the United States. Over the past few decades, thousands of people have had the ability to be a recipient of a transplanted kidney, heart, pancreas, liver, or another solid organ in the United States and throughout the world. These people have been able to extend their lives and have had the opportunity to have their health enhanced as a result of an organ transplantation. Organ donation is a significantly selfless way to give back to the world, making a huge difference in not just one but possibly multiple people and giving them a second chance by prolonging their lives. Most commonly donations occur from those that give consent after death, but there are also opportunities to donate while living. Importantly, people should be educated on the shortage there is for donations globally but they should also be aware of how many people can be impacted by the action of checking the box when receiving a driver’s license. The donation of organs is not only an important decision for yourself, but it is also an important decision for the life that you may have the power to save. The power of organ donation can not only save lives but there is a satisfaction of giving while alive or whether you wait until you leave the world. The need for organ donors is growing and the act is very simple.
Every day, an average of twenty people dies while waiting for an organ transplant. As of November 14th,2017, 116,592 men, women and children are on the national waiting list for a transplant. For decades, many hearts, lungs, kidneys, livers and other organs obtained in the United States have come from patients who have been pronounced dead. Since many people are not signed up to be an organ donor, the brain-dead patient’s families are the ones to make the decision to give up their organs. Giving doctors the ability to harvest organs is vital. Nevertheless, in this paper, I will provide reasons to why being an organ donor is imperative since it gives someone a second chance at life, enhances lives with tissue donation, and lightens the grief of a mourning family.
Organ Transplantation is a surgery that transfers an organ from one body to another and it is often the last and only way for puzzle out an organ failure, Such as lung failure and heart failure. It is often very expensive.