Artificial Organs
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In its never ending pursuit of advancement, science has reached a crucial biotechnological plateau - the creation of artificial organs. Such a concept may seem easy to comprehend until one considers the vast knowledge required to provide a functional substitute for one of nature's creations. One then realizes the true immensity of this breakthrough. Of all the bodily organs, the heart is the most important. Its life-giving property and its symbolic role as the house of the soul have led the human race to gear its lives toward preserving healthy hearts. A failing or diseased heart is used to signify imminent, unpreventable death. The innate human desire to achieve, that strong Faustian spirit, brought about the invention of the artificial heart. The potential for such a device is enormous. If perfected, it would enable us to save thousands of human lives. In a case study prepared by D. P. Lubeck and J. P. Bunker it has been estimated that there are between 16,000 and 66,000 possible recipients of the artificial heart under sixty-five years of age. If patients over the age of sixty-five are included, this number could easily exceed 100,000 annually (Shaw, 1984, p. 150). In considering the full impact of the artificial heart on society, we must not narrow our thinking to include only the beneficial possibilities. There exist moral, ethical, and economic factors that accompany the artificial heart's induction into humanity. Who will receive this brilliant inventio
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anner, researchers are governed by a principle of nonmaleficence, which means that they can do no harm solely in order to further the experimental aspect of the operation (Shaw, 1984, p. 6). This rule prevents the "mad scientist" mentality from taking hold in experimental research. As Claude Bernard, the father of experimental medicine, stated: "The principle of medical morality consists in never performing on a man an experiment which might be harmful to him in any extent, though the result might be highly advantageous to science and to the health of others" (Shaw, 1984, p. 6). It would also seem logical that the decision be based on medical need, but practicality rules this out since many candidates have roughly equal needs for the artificial heart.
A second method of selecting patients is ranking them based on their "social worth" (Akutsu, 1975, p. 352). This method would reward those who have benefitted the community and demonstrated dedicated social productivity. After all, if someone has helped his society, he is entitled to a fair return. Although this alternative is based on fair morals, it may meet a problem in that it is difficult to define social value. Two people may be valuable to society in completely diffe
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Barney Clark, Lubeck Bunker, Claude Bernard, , artificial heart, Press Stetich, Incorporated Stetich, shaw 1984, akutsu 1975, References Akutsu, heart implantation, informed consent, artificial heart implantation, energy source, Heart Lung, Ltd Shaw, akutsu 1975 352, heart technology, 1975 352, stetich 1986, 1984 150, artificial heart technology, shaw 1984 150, artificial heart naturally,
Approximate Word count = 2501
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)
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