An Ethical Implication of Organ Transplants - 3625 Words

An Ethical Implication of Organ Transplants Nickolus Sorenson Health Care Ethics and Medical Law Instructor: Kymberly Lum September 24, 2012 All aspects of health care face the inevitability of moral and ethical issues arising on numerous fronts. The organ donation and transplantation field of medicine is no exception. Each day, approximately 18 people die waiting for an organ to become available for transplant (Taranto, 2010). In the grand scheme of things this may not seem a significant number; however, the fact that over 6,500 individuals with families, friends, and an otherwise productive life will die needlessly every year is obviously a far cry from acceptable. This particular lack†¦show more content†¦Organ and tissue transplantation has been around for quite some time but has only relatively recently become an accepted practice of medicine. Historically, a number of successful transplants occurred even in ancient times. Take, for example, the Indian surgeon, Shushruta, performing a skin graph to repair damage to another man’s nose in the second century B.C. (Paul, 2008). But it wasn’t until the successful kidney transplant preformed by Dr. Joseph Murray between twins and then again with a cadaver donation in 1954, for which immunosuppressant drugs were prescribed to ward off rejection, that organ transplant began to attract wide scale interest (Powell, 2011). Prior to the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984, donors were able to legally sell their organs for a substantial sum. Conceivably, the poorest members of society were still the most frequent donors but their health concerns were considered and the procedure was preformed properly (Economics Resource Center, 2006). Now that legal financial incentives for donors have been taken off the table in the United States to avoid this treatment of the poor, resulting in the advantageous yet unethical acquiring of organs no longer being available, there is now a shortage of organs for donation. The consequence is that the call for availableShow MoreRelatedOrgan Donation And The Ethical Implications1441 Words   |  6 Pag esof becoming an organ donor can save lives and improve the quality of life of the recipient. When an individual is in need of an organ transplant, it is typically known that they are in need of an organ that facilitates a restoration of physiological functioning and will often mean the difference between life and death. A vast majority of individuals are apprehensive about what happens to their bodies after their death. In this paper we will go through the origins and history of organ donation, theRead MoreExplanation Of Moral Dilemma Or Issue Essay1289 Words   |  6 PagesDilemma or Issue. Answer: Back in 2011, roughly 90,000 people were on waiting lists for organ transplants. People on these waiting lists wait on average for three and a half years before receiving a donor transplant, if they can make it that long. Because the waiting lists for transplants and donors are so long and take a period of time to find the perfect match, people are resulting to illegally purchasing the organ in need from the underground economy, or â€Å"Black Market† (New Internationalist All postsRead MoreThe And Its Effect On Human Life921 Words   |  4 PagesWith recent advances organ transplants have advances dew hope for the treatment of kidney, Liver diseases. However, this promise has been accompanied by several issues. The most common issue has raised its ethical implications in the culture like Muslim world, because in 1983, the Muslim Religious Council disallowed organ donations by supporters of Islam, but it has overturned its position, as long the donor s consent in writing befo re death.. Transplanted Islam powerfully believes in the principleRead MoreEthics and Organ Donation1598 Words   |  7 PagesPaper Ethical Issues Related to Organ Donations In 1983 Dr H Barry Jacobs, a physician from Virginia, whose medical license had been revoked after a conviction for Medicare mail-fraud, founded International Kidney Exchange, Ltd. He sent a brochure to 7,500 American hospitals offering to broker contracts between patients with end-stage-renal-disease and persons willing to sell one kidney. His enterprise never got off the ground, but Dr Jacobs did spark an ethical debate that resultedRead MoreMedical Services : A New Sector Of The Overall Tourism Industry1732 Words   |  7 PagesTransplant tourism is a new sector of the overall tourism industry. It focuses on an individual’s ability to travel to a place where they have no permanent residence in order to receive medical services, specifically organ transplants. This paper will seek to give some of that foundational knowledge and explore those ethical and moral considerations to further explain the ways in which this field is growing and how/why so many more Canadians appe ar to be in support of it. Transplant tourism in someRead MoreOrgan Transplantation Essay1225 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction 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. Lately, there is an emerging innovation whereby organs are createdRead MoreUse Of Bio Printers As A Replacement For Current Organ Donation Treatments1442 Words   |  6 Pageswhich 3D printing technology can be implemented in. In this paper, the potential use of bio-printers as a replacement for current organ donation treatments was investigated. The current organ situation in Australia was explored to assess whether the implementation of bio-printing was suitable. It was discovered that more than 1,500 people are on the Australian organ transplant waiting list, and was thus concluded that bio-printing technology could assist in reducing stress on the waiting lists. FurtherRead More The Benefits of Xenotransplantation Essay1535 Words   |  7 Pagesimagined a world where animal organs could be safely transplanted into humans. A few years ago, this process called xenotransplantation, was completed for the very first time. The only dilemma critics had with the process involved the chances of infection and organ rejection from the patient. Through experimentation and advances made in the process, these problems have been greatly reduced. Some doctors believe that xenotransplantation will perfect our world one transplant at a time by providing anRead MoreThe Ethics Of Stem Cell Research1365 Words   |  6 Pagesact as a repair system for many tissues in the body by dividing repeatedly to replenish other cells within a person (National Institutes of Health). Stem cell research seeks to further the advancement of the use of stem cells as well as to find an ethical way to study them. In November 1998, researchers found a way to isolate and culture human embryonic stem cells, (Bevington 2005). The ethics of stem cell research has been debated over the years and some people fully support the use of stem cellsRead MoreBiomedical Example861 Words   |  4 PagesExample In 1995 Mickey Mantle received a liver transplant due to a failing liver caused by hepatitis and cirrhosis. He was a Baseball Hall of Fame center fielder for the New York Yankees. Even though the usual waiting period for a liver transplant in the United States is about 130 days, Mickey Mantle only had to wait two for the hospital to find an organ donor for him. It took only two days for the Baylor Medical Center’s transplant team to find an organ donor for the 63-year-old former baseball hero