Essay on Ethics in the Realm of Organ Trafficking

Ethics refers to a moral philosophy that aims to defend and systematize the ideas of right and wrong behaviors. It is mainly a unique word, and when people hear it, they would think it has to do with the question, "What is the right thing to do in this situation"? This concept is usually discussed in context with doctors and medicine, or the court of law or business settings (‌ Calman, 2004). In many cases, it is always a good idea to understand what is ethical and make sure it aligns with what one believe in as an individual. Ethics is a hard word to define in that it could differ from culture to culture. The concept of ethics is comprehensive and sometimes hard to define using specific terms. However, being ethical or unethical depends on societal norms. The organ trafficking concept is one of the ethical concerns that has caused attention in a healthcare setting with different scholars raising concerns regarding organ transplantation.

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Ethical concerns are usually linked to the perceptions of society. Someone’s belief system could also be a contributing factor to what is believed as ethical. It is hard to think that ethics is not subjective when there are so many different views on what ethics is and an objective standard of what is considered right in many challenging situations. However, understanding ethics is quite vital to the growth and development of societies. For instance, ethics creates credibility in all communities (Holmes &Sagalyn, 2017). Credibility is an ethical principle that helps people to have respect for human rights. Therefore, no individual is allowed to violate the rights of another person. In a case that deals with organ trafficking, it is essential to know what the matter is and the criteria for something unethical. Ethical challenges emerge when a patient decides to purchase an organ.

In most cases, the donor is not ready to sell their organ. Organ trafficking emerges due to the high demand for organs by the recipient. It is unethical when an individual is manipulated to give out or sell the organ, where there is no government oversight. Physicians and other healthcare providers are well placed at the forefront to prevent illegal organ trade. The caregivers can access patients' information and provide useful information concerning the nature of organ trafficking (‌ Calman, 2004). Health caregivers are believed to pose ethical obligations that are critical to influencing the patient's legal rights. The existing moral obligations among physicians creates significant challenges towards curbing organ trafficking. For instance, it is unethical for a physician to report a patient who has acquired an organ illegally. Therefore, the government is required to exercise legal reforms to the existing ethical obligations among the physicians.

A Harvard Medical School Professor, Dr. Francis Delmonico, is a man who is a leader in voicing the concerns of organ transplantation. According to the article, "He has led the fight to establish global ethics principles that now govern how human organs are obtained and transplanted. The reforms have affected scores of countries on six continents" (Holmes &Sagalyn, 2017). An example of a case involving a man from Northern India named Sundar Jatav traveled to Mumbai, India, looking for a job. In his new position, "His boss had told him he could make money by selling his kidney. Therefore, his boss introduced him to an organ broker. Jatav was offered $10,000(Holmes &Sagalyn, 2017). The money was enough to pay off his family's debts. In 2016, Jatav's kidney was removed. Before the procedure, the doctors performing the surgery told Jatav that donating organs was not different from donating blood. After the process, Jatav was never paid. He never received even a little amount to cater for his post-transplant. Jatav's case and many cases are equally alike. The torture shows how organ trafficking demands for reform soonest possible.

However, the organ trafficking reforms can only be achieved through proper collaboration between the government and the community. Law enforcers are fighting hard to identify traffickers and trafficking victims. For instance, the police officers have adequate training to locate the hiding point of both the traffickers and the trafficking victims (‌ Calman, 2004). On the other hand, the reduction in the organs' demand serves as the critical reform to reduce the trafficking of the human organs. More so, the health care practitioners must ensure that organs' procurement does not involve financial transactions. The increment in the supply of organs on the right channel is among the best way to prevent organ trafficking across the world. The general assembly in every country should aim to create strategies that aim to combat organ trafficking. Most of the organ traffickers are not exposed to any form of punishment. In other words, the illicit removal of the human organ is unpunished in many situations.

Organ trafficking is a lucrative worldwide illegal form of trade. However, due to its stealth nature, it is not well discussed by anti-human trafficking stakeholders. Organ traffickers make a profit in the shadows. The only thing that is felt by the anti-human trafficking stakeholders is the traffickers' destructive footprint. The process of organ trafficking leaves both the donor and recipient exploited and eventually exposes them to health consequences.

Additionally, organ trafficking has been a significant threat to private agencies. Most of the private agencies are facing significant troubles due to their criminal facilitation of organ trafficking. Organ trafficking is a process that most people find unethical. It is usually the sales of the organ between a donor and recipient. The donor is left with the expectation of receiving compensation in the form of money. Therefore, the disturbing question is whether it is ethical enough to make organ trade legal. When it comes to defining ethics, a few principles should help guide one in making a decision. According to WHO (World Health Organization), those principles include integrity, accountability, Independence and impartiality, respect, and professional commitment ("Ethical principles," 2018). Integrity enables an individual to be honest and possesses strong moral standards that are acceptable in society. Accountability allows individuals to be responsible for their actions. In other words, in ethical perspectives, accountability is the blameworthiness of account-giving. On the other hand, professional commitment calls for the desire to be loyal and manifest a sense of responsibility to sole particular issues.

This case is common among other countries and is usually under the category of transplant tourism. However, the question is, "What is the line that is drawn that makes it ethical or unethical"? The most exciting part of it is that transplant tourists do not directly cause harm to anyone (Broumand &Saidi, 2017). Patients who acquire transplanted organs abroad are more advantaged than patients who receive transplanted organs locally. According to World Health Organization (WHO), transplant tourism refers to patients traveling across the borders to be transplanted elsewhere (Ethical principles, 2018). This act is done when resources and organ supply in one's homeland isn't available. Research claims that transplant tourism significantly affects donors more than the recipients. For instance, there is partial compensation for donors, as promised during the agreement.

Most disappointing, the organ donors are frequently tricked out by the middlemen and organ vendors. To some extent, the middlemen and organ demand for the organ donors to pay unnecessary procurement fee. At some health centers, post-transplant care may be substandard. In other words, the aftercare that is required is not efficiently provided to the donor (Ethics vs. Morals - Difference and Comparison | Diffen, 2019). On the other hand, recipient health may be compromised by unhealthy donors and poor matching of the organs.

In most cases, patients are discharged from the health centers when their immunosuppressive medication is not adequate. The discharged patients lack sufficient records of what was done. Additionally, both the donor and recipient receive poor education either at pre-transplant or at post-transport levels. It implies that the entire transplant system is harmful to the donor and recipient's health because of the language barriers. Generally, issues related to transplant tourism translates into challenges for the whole transplant community (Holmes & Sagalyn, 2017). Healthcare professionals are worried that transplant tourism is likely to undermine the communities' trust in transplants processes. Therefore, the entire society will develop a negative impact on the future donation of organs.

Transplant tourism needs to be defined to piece together what organ trafficking usually entails. Ethics can be a hard word to describe because it is a concept that could change over time. It can also be mixed up with the idea of morality. Morality is what an individual believes is right and wrong, which can be subjective to them. However, ethics is a set of principles followed by a system. The ethical challenges regarding transplantation are more complicated when transplant centers cannot sort out the organ they should return to the transplant tourist. Ethics demands that any transplantation should contrive the law for a voluntary donation (Trott, 2016, June 14). Also, the principle for donation of any organ should be free from corruption. Therefore, most society discourages patients from seeking transportation in countries where there is a lack of eternal scrutiny. In other words, if transplant tourism must happen, it should have government oversight and should not undermine medicine's commitment.

Conclusion

It is essential to know the ethical principles and understand what is right and what is wrong. Ethics can change over time due to advancing technology. Therefore, an individual needs to differentiate between what is ethical and what is unethical. Jatav's case and other similar cases should be looked at and classified as wicked. The scenario shows the exploitation of human rights. It is an injustice to transplant an individual's organ because of the demand for money. It is disappointing to note that the agreed compensation was not met as agreed. The government should intervene and enforce laws to individuals who were involved in the scenario. The government should trace the suspects and align them to court for prosecution. The involved individuals should be punished and demanded to compensate the victim immediately as it was in agreement. The punishment will serve as an example to the other cartels that have similar actions and aspirations. Physicians should intervene and assist Jatav to handle his disturbing situation. As a result, relevant regulatory entities should give Jatav with proper guidance on how to proceed with his life irrespective of whether he is a victim of organ trafficking.

References

‌ Calman, K. C. (2004). Evolutionary ethics: can values change. Journal of Medical Ethics, 30(4), 366–370. https://doi.org/10.1136/jme.2002.003582

Broumand, B., &Saidi, R. F. (2017). New Definition of Transplant Tourism. International Journal of Organ Transplantation Medicine, 8(1), 49–51. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5347406/

Ethical principles. (, 2018). Retrieved from Who.int website: https://www.who.int/about/ethics/ethical-principles

Ethics vs. Morals - Difference and Comparison | Diffen. (, 2019). Retrieved from Diffen.com website: https://www.diffen.com/difference/Ethics_vs_Morals

Holmes, R., &Sagalyn, D. (2017). One doctor's war against global organ trafficking.