Organ Transplantation: Ethical Issues, Regulation and Illegal Sales of Human Organs - Case Study Example

and Organ Transplantation: Ethical issues, regulation and illegal sales of human organs. Introduction The society has always been a victim of many medical complications and organ transplantation has been embraced in treatment and procedures administered to patients who suffer from related health problems. Having to understand the exact meaning of organ transplantation would give us a vivid insight about the subject matter. The whole process is a surgical procedure where an organ or a tissue is removed and placed into another person. (Clinic-Clevaland 1). There is a range of organs and tissues that that can be transplanted. These include the heart, liver, lung, kidney, ear, intestine, cornea, skin, middle ear, bone, bone marrow, connective tissue and many others. The donation aspect is inspired by a number of issues hence our concern on the ethical aspects involved. The donor in one case might be inspired to be involved to save a life without getting nothing in return. Patients with such difficulties as kidney failure are a good example of such beneficiaries. There have been many cases of lives saved through such donations (Price and Akveld 19-30). A donation might come from a living person or can be extended soon after their death. On the other hand, some members of the society are inspired to donate for financial gain an element that has raised reaction from the society. These organs are expensive, and some individuals in the society have stepped out of their way to benefit from this. Back in 2011, a Chinese teenager allegedly sold his kidney to buy an iPad 2 (Bennett-Smith 1). This provokes the society to engage on the morality of organ donation as we have had cases of illegal sale of human organs too. This calls for strict regulations of this medical practice. We shall discuss the ethics for donating human organs and address the challenges for regulating the practice. We shall further examine whether it’s possible to end illegal sale of human organs. We shall be keen to address ethical issues regarding the donor and the recipient. We shall further point out ethical issues regarding the allocation of limited resources in the whole activity of organ donation. Another area to address will deal with ethical issues regarding procurement of organs and maybe tissues. Ethical Issues Regarding the Donor The idea of organ transplant raises so many ethical issues particularly from the fact that the procedures involved in the case of a living donor subject him or her to events that may lead to physical harm. Moreover, it can also lead to some pain and worse of all, loss of life (Ethical issues in organ donation 1). The ethical problem here is whether it is justifiable to mutilate a living human being for the benefit of another. Some donations have temporary implications like blood donation while some like kidney donation result to permanent transition that may come with complications. This calls for the need to strike a balance that much time happens to be delicate between the interests of the donor who cannot be whole again and the recipient’s medical needs. The decision of the donor affects the family members, and their opinions put the recipient’s life at stake. Ethical justification for one to become a living donor may be guarded through a number of limitations to observe that no losses occur. The donor should only do so from a self will. Thus, this means the decision should be purely voluntary and without coercion, and the procedure should only be performed where there are high prospects of it being successful (Ethical issues in organ donation 1). In fact, the procedure should only happen as a last resort. Organs may be donated to a patient from the deceased. Some people stipulate in their wills before they die that their bodies can be subjected to ends that can be useful. They have a place for the sick and those in need of such organs and thus propose such procedures. The ethical question that rise from is are whether the consent of the deceased donor was involved, such that the respect of the deceased and the family members is not violated. The organs donated should be free of disease-causing agents as contrary it would affect the health of the recipient. Some religious organizations have felt that it is not ethical to have sexual organs as donations from the deceased (Flaman 1). Any resultant child from such transplants would have their parental rights violated. The ethical aspect in this matter is respect for the dead. The demands of the cadaver ought to be respected. The wishes of the family members should be attended too. People with such plans as to donate organs post life have been commended and are advised to state their limits and other wishes clearly. This would serve to eliminate cases of violation of their wishes. The recipients of such organs should be keen to observe that the medics confirm compatibility with the availed organs. This would mean that private medics who rush to perform such procedures for financial gain do not exploit any loopholes. This is one area that calls for thorough regulation as moral standards are being violated. No one has the right to exploit the deceased or the patients. Another area of ethical concern is the donations that come from anencephalic infants. These are infants born with some portions of their brains absent (Flaman 1). Some medics argue that their chances of survival are low, and thus some viable organs should be obtained from them. The ethical question here is why they should be subjected to death while they are partially conscious. As much as they don’t have a chance to survive, do we violate their right to life when we do so? There has been much debate about this as some people feel that these infants should be given the normal care of dying living beings and the fact that they can’t pose their wishes should not be exploited. Another category of donors is human fetuses. They may die from natural cause while others are those that result from abortions. Organs obtained from those who die do not prove reaction as those that result from cases of abortion. The religious schools of thought have always condemned abortion and feel that allowing exploitation of such fetuses in the society would lead to moral decadence as there would be unethical cooperation between biomedical sciences and abortion centers. Procedures such as the brain transplant from such fetuses demand that the brain should not be totally dead. Thus, there would be cases of induced death from fetuses that were not dead from doctors who seek financial gains. There is also a question of who the guardian of aborted fetuses should be like the one who procured their abortion had no interest of theirs at heart (Flaman 1). Ethical Issues Regarding the Recipient The patient on the end of the donation is regarded as the recipient and should freely accept the organ or the tissue donated as a gift. Is not a right to him or her but a privilege extended by an individual willing to better his or her life or even save it. Many stakeholders of this matter feel that the recipient should have free and informed consent about the donation. Such an event comes with potential medical risks and complications, medical costs and expenses, post-hospital care or even death. This information should be shared with the recipient and he/she should not be pressured to be a recipient. The guardian of the patient should not blackmail a donor or bribe him/her for the benefits of the recipient. They should not seek unjustified privileges from health facilities for first or preferred priorities in the waiting lists. This whole process should be transparent, and the organ should be obtained legally. It would be unethical to violate the desires of the donor or otherwise infringe the rights of other patients. Rights of recipients not old enough to share their consent should not be violated. Children that happen to be sick should not be victims of their parents believe or traditions. Jehovah Witness follows known to have a rigid stand on transplants an element that affect decisions made in health care. Many believe it is not ethical for such believers to stand between a life-saving procedure and a recipient. Many advocates for the involvement of proper safety measures during the transplant procedures (Matesanz and Miranda 24). Some donors happen to be sick, and organs donated should be carefully screened for such elements like HIV AIDS and other viruses. Ethical Issues Regarding Allocation of Limited organs/tissues The organs and tissues available at any given time exceed the demand in the health care facilities. That poses an ethical question on what criteria should be used to allocate these organs to the patients. Must fairness and efficiency in distribution of the scarce tissues and organs. The question of who should make such decisions arises and the question of who should receive first and why comes up too. In factual terms, is a question of who should die and who should live (Chapman, Deierhoi and Wight 19). This calls for moral and ethical guidance in settling down for the criteria to use (Delmonico and Wynn 889). Those who have great needs, and chances of achieving longer benefits are given a priority. The ethical argument is that such a scarce resource should not be spared for those who might marginally live longer but still have complications along the way. They should come later in the list as the saved ones would serve the society in their course of their saved long and beneficial lives. There is a question of what rehabilitation would do if all patients were treated equally. Those who benefit longer go through rehabilitation at one point as aftercare. The criterion of “first come first serve” has always been advocated. Many believe that it gives patients equal chances to survive as long as they have at least same needs and potential benefits. The idea of compatibility between the recipient’s blood elements and that of the donor would give some recipients some priorities. This would be fair enough as others would not benefit from a transplant in the long run. Another element considered is “social worthiness” of the individual. Those who have given much to the society are looked at differently from those who have done little or less. Some elements like age always factor here. Race and religion also come. Many criticize this criterion as it violates the idea of equal dignity of human beings. Ethical Issues Regarding Procurement of Organs and Tissues (i) The buying and selling human organs/tissues (ii) Regulation of human donations and challenges involved (iii) Addressing illegal sale of human organs The above stated factors have posed some concern, and many ethical questions have been raised regarding them. Buying and selling of human organs has been there in the society for some time now. This raises ethical question of whether they should be stocked like pumpkins for sale on demand has been poised (Kahn 45). Some groups suggest that willing people should seek to sell them where needed as this would serve to save many lives out there. With their consent and will without external pressure, they can sell these organs and minimize the shortage. Some feel that some tissues like blood are regenerative, and the donor would regain their normal state after sometimes (Arnold 18). Some have felt that it would be disgraceful to sell human organs as commodities as it would violate human dignity. The payment would invalidate the donors consent and hurt the social bond that comes from giving out such organs for free. The idea of equality would become a thing of the past as the organ would benefit the highest bidder. This consequently would lay a platform for illegal sale of human organs. The world health organization has addressed the need to regulate human donation in an attempt to safeguard human dignity. This should only be addressed as a last resort and should not be a practice meant to generate revenue for governments, private sector or illegal businessmen (Flaman 1). All sectors of the society should show commitments in safeguarding human dignity. The attempts to regulate human donations have had a number of challenges. The media have played a key role in promoting illegal human donations (Moray 3284). The publicity facilitated by the media about those who need these organs has led to more people being pressured to donate without their consent or will. They are lured with money and end up violating their dignity. Another element that proves to be a challenge is the looming poverty in the society. Some see the need to sell such organs to feed their children. They are ready to provide them opening more doors to illegal harvest of these organs. The question ringing in our mind today is whether it’s possible to end illegal sale of human organs. This will not happen overnight but with collective responsibility it can become a reality. People should realize the need to respect and honor human dignity and only donate when there is no any other way round. Looking out for alternative measures and substitutes would work to help illegal donations come to an end (Cohen 15). Artificial substitutes for tissues and organs would prove vital in this case. Advanced technology has helped generate tissues that make false teeth, synthetic lenses and many more. Though it’s a costly alternative, it would serve to cut the shortage of these organs. Human transplantation saves lives but should always be done in a manner that safeguards human dignity (Veatch 237). Works Cited Arnold, Robert M. Procuring Organs for Transplant: The Debate Over Non-heart-beating Cadaver Protocols. London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995. Print. Bennett-Smith, Meredith. "Chinese Teenager Allegedly Sells Kidney For iPad 2." 8th August 2011. The Huffington Post. Web. 19 Dec 2014. . Chapman, Jeremy R, Mark Deierhoi and Celia Wight. Organ and tissue donation for transplantation. London: Taylor & Francis, 1997. Web. Clinic-Clevaland. Organ Tlansplantation. 10 Oct 2013. Web. 19th Dec 2014. . Cohen, Lloyd R. Increasing the supply of transplant organs: The virtues of an options. New York: Springer, 1995. Print. Delmonico, Francis L and James J Wynn. "Managing the Enlarging Waiting List." American Journal of Transplantation (2002): 889-890. Web. "Ethical issues in organ donation." 1997. National health and medical reseach council. Web. 19th Dec 2014. . Flaman, Paul. "Organ and tissue transplants: some ethical issues." 1994. University of Alberta. Web. 19th Dec 2014. . Kahn, Jeffrey P. "Three views of organ procurement policy: moving ahead or giving up?" Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal (2003): 45-46. Web. Matesanz, Rafael and Blanca Miranda. "A decade of continuous improvement in cadeveric organ donation: the spanish model." Journal of Nephrology (2002): 24-26. Web. Moray, Gokhan. "Media effect on organ donation and transplantation." Transplantation proceedings (1999): 3284-3285. Price, David and Hans Akveld. "Living donor organ transplantation in europe: Revaluating its role." European Journal of Health Law (1998): 19-44. Print. Veatch, Robert M. Transplantation ethics: what it means to be human. Washington: Georgetown University Press, 2000. Print. Read More