Essay Sample on Organ Transplants: Improving Lives Through Technology

Introduction

Organ transplant is evidence of how the technology of contemporary medicine can improve the lives of many people. Improvements in organ preservation, developments in surgical techniques as well as the presence of new immunosuppressive drugs have made organ transplantation a standard surgical procedure in the health sector (Munson, 2014). It is troubling that there is a chronic shortage in transplant organs as their demand is higher than the supply and it leaves medical practitioners with the option of making a judgment on patients who will receive donated organs and who will not (Marck et al., 2015). Some surgeons or physicians may feel the need to take organs from dying people without their consent or those of their families which is unethical. It is referred to as organ conscription. It is important to seek the consent of organ donors or their family members as a sign of respect to the donors, to avoid lawsuit and also maintain a good brand image in the public. Public mass awareness can increase potential donors' acceptance of concept to organ donation.

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Moral Concerns on Organ Conscription

One of the policies of organ donation is the conscription of cadaveric organs (Wilkinson and Savulescu, 2012). It is immoral to conscript cadaveric organs without the consent of the donor as it is a violation of one's right to have his or her personal choices respected. The ethical principle of respect for people proposes the need to respect the personal choices people make as long as they do not harm others. People have the right to refuse to donate their organs and can also choose the person they would like to donate their organs to. Consent protects and manifests the moral autonomy of people and also acts as a barrier to harm and exploitation as some medical professionals could take advantage of it to impair people to take some of their body parts (Truog, Miller and Halpern, 2015). It is important to fulfill the demands of people, especially in their critical moments. If someone does not want to donate a body organ, he or she should not be compelled to or the organ removed without consent. Therefore, it is the moral duty of medical practitioners to respect people's decisions in regards to organ donation. However, organ conscription can be helpful in cases where the ethical principle of justice is applied. It involves the fair allocation of organs based on the patients' urgency of organs. It can be noble to help a patient requiring an organ transplant if one has access to the required organ from a dying patient. Once the donor dies, he or she will never use the organ hence it is better when one decides to help another patient who needs it.

Fairness and Justness of Organ Conscription Policy

Conscription of cadaveric organs without the consent of donors is unethical but can solve the severe shortage of transplant organs. When patients or their families fail to consent to organ donation, many transplantable organs are lost (Schwark, 2011). It is avoidable if mass awareness can be made to the public to make them understand the importance of saving and improving the lives of people suffering due to organ failure by offering one's organs during death. A reluctance to talk about transplants has led to a severe shortage of organ donations yet over 400 patients lose lives annually due to lack of new organs (Johnston, 2017). Thousands of people are also listed in a transplant waiting list and some may end up losing lives if they do not receive organ transplants on time. It is therefore fair and just to pass the organ conscription policy to save lives of people in transplant waiting lists and people in dire need of new organs. Yilmaz (2011) indicates that the best way to increase public acceptance is making documentaries on how organ transplants help patients and also helping people understand that it is best to donate organs that may help others rather than dying with all organs while someone's parent, sibling or friend is suffering due to organ failure.

The Relevance of the Concept of Consent in Organ Donation

Every person has a right to his or her body and therefore deserves to offer consent on any operation that involves interfering with his or her body. It is a form of respect to a donor and also to the donor's family. In cases where the donor may be unable to offer consent, engaging close family members is important as there is a high likelihood that they are aware of the wishes that the donor may have had before dying (Marck et al., 2015). Family members who take part in offering consent also feel respected and confident that the medical team that handled their patients offered their best services to the patient and did not have any motive to acquire organs for their interests. Lack of donor consent on organ donation could lead to a hospital facing a lawsuit for giving other people patients' organs without a donor's consent (Cohen, 2012). It can also lead to a poor reputation of a healthcare provider if the public learns of the act and in the long term, the facility could lose clients.

Alternative Policies for Increasing Available Donor Organs

Continued donor organ shortages cause increased death of people with organ failure. The best way to increase available donor organs is by seeking the approval of patients in critical conditions to donate organs in case one happens to die (Mossialos, Costa-Font & Rudisill, 2008). In case one has defiant patients, one can use close friends or family members to help the patients understand the importance of donating organs. One can also ask the family members to seek the patients' perspective on organ donation to ease decision making where the consent of the family is needed to donate organs.

References

Cohen, I. G. (2012). Can the government ban organ sale? Recent court challenges and the future of US law on selling human organs and other tissue. American Journal of Transplantation, 12(8), 1983-1987.

Johnston, C. (2017, September 4). Shortage of organ donations led to 457 deaths last year, says NHS. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/04/silence-transplants-deadly-organs-shortage-nhs

Marck, C. H., Neate, S. L., Skinner, M. R., Dwyer, B. M., Hickey, B. B., D'Costa, R., ... & Jelinek, G. A. (2015). Factors relating to consent for organ donation: prospective data on potential organ donors. Internal medicine journal, 45(1), 40-47.

Mossialos, E., Costa-Font, J., & Rudisill, C. (2008). Does organ donation legislation affect individuals' willingness to donate their own or their relative's organs? Evidence from European Union survey data. BMC health services research, 8(1), 48.

Munson, R. (2014). Intervention and reflection: Basic issues in bioethics (concise ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth.

Schwark, D. (2011). Organ Conscription: How the Dead Can Save the Living. JL & Health, 24, 323.

Truog, R. D., Miller, F. G., & Halpern, S. D. (2015). The dead-donor rule and the future of organ donation. Replacement Parts: The Ethics of Procuring and Replacing Organs in Humans, 20.

Wilkinson, D., & Savulescu, J. (2012). Should we allow organ donation euthanasia? Alternatives for maximizing the number and quality of organs for transplantation. Bioethics, 26(1), 32-48.

Yilmaz, T. U. (2011). Importance of education in organ donation. Exp Clin Transplant, 9(6), 370-375.