HS 300W Paper Organs
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Running head: ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION Organ Transplantations
DeArreona King
Northern Arizona University
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ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION
In the realm of healthcare and innovation, organ transplantation has proven itself to preserve many lives throughout the years making an impact on the human race. However, the extent of controversy in essence of organ transplantation gives rise to the many topics for discussion. An organ transplant can occur via live donation or cadaveric donation. The best outcomes come from organ donors who donate a kidney or a liver and are shown to be in good health. Hearts, lungs, and other organs are also donatable if the person is in good health. Donating live organs becomes an illegal act if a person is receiving financial compensation or profit off of said organ. Even though patients in need of transplants often need kidneys, there is no way to reduce the risk residing in this situation because there is a lack of donations. When a person incorporates themselves in the process of organ donation or transplantation, especially if said person is living, it is often in association of financial costs, donor reimbursement for travel, housing and lost wages (Salomon, et al., 2015). There are some cases where donors receive full compensation to accomodate for time missed at work. Some donors also receive funding for having to travel but it is not likely that everyone receives this specific type of assistance. As a result, people are now selling their organs via the black market in hopes of accumulating thousands of dollars in compensation for their donation. The main emphasis of this summary analysis will include: the privations of live donations faced by donors and recipients, the ethics behind offering human organs for profit, and the difference in organ donation for live and cadaveric donors.
Summary: The Case for Allowing Kidney Sales
In this article, the focus is whether or not it is appropriate to legalize a market that will sell live organs for donation. This includes kidneys, livers, lungs, and other organs that are hard
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to receive when in critical conditions. The article itself mentions a number of concerning points, one of which is that those involved in trading the product will take advantage of the poor, over time, financially. It can also be said that “since they are coerced by their economic circumstances, their consent cannot count as genuine” (Radcliffe-Richards, et al., 2013). This means because the decision to sell their organ is being made based on financial hardship they can
easily revoke their consent to offering their organs and keep the proceeds. In many countries patients are being kept alive by dialysis treatments. This form of treatment allows families the ideology of hope that one day they will visit their healthcare provider and not have to go through treatment again. The conflicting factor is medically doctors and other healthcare professionals have not quite accomplished performing adequate dialysis treatments for under-developed countries. Due to the lack of funding in those countries and even in some parts of the United States, being in poverty makes it more difficult to obtain an organ. This is something that most prospectors do not take into consideration. Those who are living in poverty would actively volunteer for any opportunity involving an extra source of income. “...the
poorer a potential vendor, the more likely it is that the sale of a kidney will be worth whatever risk there is” (Radcliffe-Richards, et al., 2013). Vendors, as well as recipients, are at a higher risk
of danger when paying for and selling organs. The idea of properly testing said organ, gathering medical information for both donor and recipient are not logically processed especially in an illegal market when money can be made quite fast.
The Privations of Live Donations Faced By The Donors and Recipients
There are 108,688 people on the UNOS transplant list as of today and every 10 minutes
there is a new name added (UNOs, 2020). Once the medical black market opened after the
selling of organs became illegal, the number of live donors depleted due to the idea of freely
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giving an organ. In 2017, 18 patients died every day waiting for a transplant and 6,500
candidates died either on the waitlist or 30 days later after being removed due to medical reasons
(UNOS, 2019) . With this information, it is visibly seen that not every patient who is on dialysis
will make it off of dialysis. This is a major hardship for those who are anticipating for their
operation to be done and regain full health to continue on in life. Many viable organ donors do
not participate in organ donation because they are not prepared to face the financial destruction
and the possible health complications that a donor can aquire.
Since it is illegal to offer funding for organ donation, participants are donating their organs for little to none of what they would receive at work. Health facilities are only able to reimburse their donors who are missing out on work due to the procedure but they are not fully reimbursed. Another hardship is the selling of organs within the black market limiting the donations in legal facilities. There are many people, who are sick and diagnosed with an illness, and are unemployed, not making enough money to fund the cost of treatment, even those who can’t afford to cut the hours they have for dialysis treatment. The black market gives way for people to sell their organs for more than ethically reasonable. As mentioned previously, the legal approach to donating an organ presents much more of a risk at financial instability than illegally selling an organ. The Ethical Stand Behind Offering Human Organs For Donation
In the book entitled Ethical issues in modern medicine: Contemporary readings in
bioethics, the article
An Ethical Market in Human Organs has brought another way of thinking
to the discussion at hand. Kidneys and other major organs are scarce and rare in the donation
community which is justification for why so many people have to be on the UNOS waitlist for
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years. Legalizing a market where living donors can sell their organs through a legitimate system
is more ethical because “creating a market in cadaveric organs is uneconomic and is more likely
to reduce supply than increase it and the chief reason for considering sale of organs is to improve
availability” (Erin & Harris, 2013). What better way to improve the availability of organs than
legalizing the selling of them? Hospitals and recipients receive a beneficial reward for the act
whether it is life or financial. The live donor however, does not receive any type of beneficial
reward beside the recognition of knowing that they were able to help someone in need. In the
article written by Erin and Harris, they mention a strategy allowing for legal organ selling to be
done by those who are “..citizens resident within the union or state could sell into the system and
they and their families would be equally eligible to receive organs” (Erin & Harris, 2013). A
price scale would need to be created overall specifically placing a price on the organ being
donated and all others like it. This means if a person is looking for a liver and they are set to be
$750 then whoever the person is matched with will receive $750. No communication is needed
regarding pricing and fairness. The Difference In Organ Donation For Live And Cadaveric Donors
One benefit to being a live organ donor is “those who have been kidney donors get priority” (UNOS, 2018). This means that if a person goes in to donate an organ out of their own free-will, they will be of first priority on the UNOS list should they ever need an organ, despite what organ is needed. Some donors are met with the feeling of satisfaction and/or happiness after
a successful donation (UNOS, 2018). This can be beneficial to those who feel as though they are doing something for the “greater good”. Most often than not time in the process of a live donation, there is a family member or friend who is a match that will be donating the organ in question. Recipients and donors are able to obtain this special bond or relationship that either
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grows stronger or begins anew after the organ is successfully transferred. There are also anonymous live donors as well.
There are a list of cons that may influence a live donor's decision in giving their organs to
another person. Some slight risks and/or complications that live donors may need to consider is pain, hernias, heavy bleeding, infection, etc (UNOS, 2018). A few long term complications that could possibly occur after organ donation can include hernias, kidney problems or need for kidney transplant, blocked bowel and more (UNOS, 2018). Regret or anger are two of the main negative emotions felt by the donor after a transplant is completed. This can be due to the organ being rejected if it is a kidney or the reimbursement or lack thereof being received (UNOS, 2018). This could be an issue if the donor was a family member or a friend, once the body begins
to reject the organ animosity could set in between the two parties as the family may get upset the procedure didn’t work and the donor could be upset that they relinquished an organ that failed to do its part. A person who receives a kidney from a cadaveric donor will “have more energy… be able to do more” (UNOS, 2018). When receiving an organ from a cadaveric donor, the recipient has no ill feelings within themselves if the body rejects the organ. This is because no one has an emotional tie to the organ in question and it doesn’t hurt anyone if it does not succeed. A financial benefit is that patients are no longer responsible for paying for dialysis treatments which
makes their financial situation much better over time (UNOS, 2018). Once cleared the patient is allowed to return to normal activities which include work and/or school if applicable.
In the medical realm of organ transplantation, the most detrimental con is a recipient “may have to wait four or more years to get a kidney” (UNOS, 2018). As a live donor, one is able to choose who their kidney goes to based on need. Some recipients may experience a few
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emotional and mental complications post surgery such as PTSD, depression and anxiety. Financially, the impact would be maintaining the payments of medical bills after the surgery or need for rehabilitation services (UNOS, 2018). While some people are able to obtain healthcare insurance, most of them do not have insurance willing to fully cover a transplantation procedure or treatment. Oftentimes, most people in organ failure or corruption will opt to not have any procedure done to help them live longer. This is because the financial commitment to get dialysis, medication, fund appointments and even surgery within itself is too much for them to handle alone. The overarching intent of this paper was to successfully identify the key concept in the privations of live donations faced by donors and recipients, the ethics behind offering human organs for profit, and the difference in organ donation for live and cadaveric donors. While summarizing the article The Case for Allowing Kidney Sales,
it allowed a background to be given
as to why marketing human organs for donations has become illegal. After processing the information and factual evidence provided, one should ask themselves in a clear state of mind: Should organ donation be legalized for the benefit of hundreds and thousands of ill people?
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References:
Erin, C. A., & Harris, J. (2013). An Ethical Market in Human Organs. In B. Steinbock, A. J. London, & J. D. Arras, Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine: Contemporary Readings in Bioethics
(Eighth ed., pp. 280-281). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Radcliffe-Richards, J., Daar, A. S., Guttmann, R. D., Hoffenberg, R., Kennedy, I., Lock, M., . . . Tilney, N. L. (2013). The Case for Allowing Kidney Sales. In B. Steinbock, A. J. London, & J. D. Arras, Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine: Contemporary Readings in Bioethics
(Eighth ed., pp. 277-280). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Salomon, D. R., Langnas, A. N., Reed, A. I., Bloom, R. D., Magee, J. C., & Gaston, R. S. (2015, March 31). AST/ASTS Workshop on Increasing Organ Donation in the United States: Creating an "Arc of Change" From Removing Disincentives to Testing Incentives. American Journal of Transplantation, 15
(5), 1173-1179.
UNOS. (2018). Being a Living Donor: Pros and Cons for a Living Donor
. Retrieved October 19,
2018, from UNOS Transplant Living: https://transplantliving.org/kidney/pros-and-cons-
for-a-living-donor/
UNOS. (2018). Transplant from a Donor Who Has Died: Pros and Cons of Transplant from a Donor Who Has Died
. Retrieved October 19, 2018, from UNOS Transplant Living: https://transplantliving.org/kidney/pros-and-cons-of-transplant-from-a-donor-who-has-
died/
UNOS. (2019) Transplant trends. Retrieved from https://unos.org/data/transplant-trends/
.
UNOS. (2020, October). Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Retrieved from https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/data/view-data-reports/national-data/
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