Ethics of Organ Donations

Ethics of Organ Transplants and the Negative Impacts

Abstract

This paper will present the Cons view of ethics of organ transplantations. It will provide the reader with vital information about the shortage of cadaveric organs and live donor organs and the negative impact it has on the donor process. We will explain the negative impact donors and recipients may suffer concerning the health and the psychological consequences that can arise from both living and cadaveric donors/recipients. We will discuss the financial impacts of buying and selling organs, availability due to financial resources and the negative impact of our current systems of healthcare concerning donors and how it impacts equal access to organs. Medical outcomes with negative results play a big role in organ donations due to the fact that outliners and variables are hard to predict. The overall process of organ donation and selecting a recipient is skewed due to the fact that considering each case on an individual basis could open the door for bias, lying, and favoritism.

Ethics of Organ Transplantation

Our healthcare system of waiting pools and raking list of organ transplant patients does not come with a guarantee that the first person on the list receives the first available organ. Even with our current process of designating our wishes on our driver’s license or our health care directive, families still sometimes have the final say (National Foundation for Transplants, 2009). The nature of our health care system and the ability to receive an organ depends many times on the financing of the transplant. Our health care system does not guarantee access to life-saving treatments such as organ transplants and the ability to pay does play a role in the distribution of organs. Another factor that is considered is the type of organ it is and the compatibility between the organ and the recipient. As recipients wait on list they become sicker and older changing their whole...