Organ Transplants: What You Need to Know - Essay Example

"Organ Transplants: What You Need to Know" is a great example of a paper on transplantation and donation. The human body has been used for various purposes making it assume the status of a commodity. Historical records point to man as cannibals who ate human flesh. Consequently, human body parts have found enormous use in the medical field. For instance, the Etruria extracted teeth from dead people for use in medical treatment (Petechuk, 2006). In ancient Europe, during the 15th to 17th centuries, there was the extraction of human fat from mummies to treat people. In Japan, there was the utilization of the human lungs, liver, brain, heart, bone, and flesh in medicine. Furthermore, some tools such as pipes and whistles were made using human body parts like bones and skulls (Petechuk, 2006).

The advancement of medicine has not only enhanced the commercialization of the human body parts but also ensured that the human body parts become a commodity (Petechuk, 2006). Currently, many tissue banks are present across the globe. Such tissues as durable, skin, bones, ligaments, cartilage, cardiac valves and tendons are currently being stored in tissue banks after undergoing sterilization, inspection, and processing (Petechuk, 2006). The extraction of these tissues occurs from dead bodies. Whenever a hospital requires a specific tissue, the tissue banks will deliver it to them at a price. For instance, a tendon is selling at 2,500 U.S dollars. This commercialization of the human body parts renders them commodities (Petechuk, 2006).

“How should decisions be made on distributing scarce organs?”

The scarcity of some human body parts makes it a challenge to distribute them amongst people in need of them. Decisions affecting their allocation and distribution should be informed. The first step in making such decisions is the determination of all the policies that affect organ transplants. All the past and present decisions require a comprehensive examination to ascertain their relevance. It is also important for the decision-makers to put into consideration the scarcity of the organs. This will help them appreciate the situation and devise strategies accordingly. The patients who are awaiting transplantations need to know of the availability of the organs. In a case where the organs are unavailable, the physicians can devise the most appropriate ways of letting them know (Petechuk, 2006). It is however very important to consider the local policies and regulations and the ethical aspects when making human body transplant decisions (Petechuk, 2006).

“Is it possible to prevent the coercion of donors?”

Physicians have a primary obligation to respect and protect the privileges of the benefactor and the recipient. These obligations extend to include the family members and relatives to the patients. This is because their views should be equally important. However, all these notwithstanding, the responsibility of the physician to address the well-being of the patient must not justify unethical and illegal procurement of human organs from a donor, especially in a coercive way. The physicians involved in organ transplant should ensure that they acquire the transplant organs based on the laid down policies (Petechuk, 2006). They must avoid transplanting those organs whose procurement is unprincipled or illegal. As a way of preventing coercion of donors, the procurement of their organs must be done through cooperation and consultation with all stakeholders involved. During such consultations, the ethical principles, human rights, and medical ethics together with the societal values need equal considerations. Nevertheless, the transplantation subject and debate need a resolution process that involves the public debating from a sound evidence-informed perspective (Petechuk, 2006).

Read More