ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION & ETHICAL ISSUES Introduc

Organ transplantation, one of the most sophisticated and expensive treatments in modern medicine, considers human values to be just as important as the treatment (Manzetti, Ankeny, & Miller, 1997, p. 389). This research paper investigates ethical issues involved in organ transplantation with a review of human rights, examples of specific issues, and recent ethical concerns.

Organ transplantation includes the rights of all the people involved. It involves the donation of organs and identifies the appropriate recipient; ethical issues are factors for patients, families, health care providers, legislators, and the public. Since the 1990s there has been an open forum for debate regarding ethical issues in health care; ethical issues have always been a subject of debate in organ transplantation due to the unique exchange that occurs. The issue involves the public because people must donate their organs or tissues for treatment to be possible (DePalma & Townsend, 1996, pp. 1-2).

Organ transplantation can be viewed as a process with two phases that are separate but interdependent, donation and allocation. Ethically and legally, mandated separations need to occur to protect the rights of the donor. The health care provider who approaches the potential donor or family must not be members of the transplantation team to prevent coercion for donation of organs. Any action viewed as ethically questionable i

. . .
acrificed. Opposition to presumed consent legislation views it as a violation of the principle of autonomy because it denies patients and families participation in the decision. It is also opposed because it cannot guarantee informed consent since not all individuals would be aware of or understand the terms or their rights, and it does not promote beneficence (obligation to prolong live and relieve suffering when possible). Transplantation is medical beneficence however donation is not (DePalma & Townsend, p. 5). Ethical dilemmas currently exist in the practice of transplantation and will escalate with health care reform. Health care reform is in search for a level of basic health care for all, that is fair and just. Many plans exclude transplantation from universal coverage due to cost, small numbers of patients benefiting from it, or the experimental status of treatment. Only lung transplantation is considered experimental however many plans fail to include any type of transplantation. If this type of plan is enacted, availability of organs will be increased due to decreased time that patients will be eligible for health care once brain death is established. Only patients who can afford greater coverage will have the
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
DePalma Townsend, ATG OKT3, Act UAGA, Van Bakel, Organ Transplantation, Riether Mahler, Europe Reorganization, Cakalaroski Polenakovic, Medical Association, Rights Organ, ethical issues, organ transplantation, organ donation, health care, financial incentives, depalma townsend, organ procurement, ethical issues organ, presumed consent, issues organ, informed consent, presumed consent legislation, depalma townsend pp, infected hepatitis virus, manzetti ankeny miller,
Approximate Word count = 2689
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)