Jennifer Feser
16OCT2014
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), “28,465 organ transplants were performed in the U.S. in 2010…[but] currently over 100,000 patients are still waiting for donations…” (Gormley. 2011). The topic of organ donation is contentious and controversial at best. While few can argue against the benefits to both individual and society of implementing organ donation programs, the means by which to accomplish such a feat are hotly debated in the medical, legal, ethical, and legislative spheres. Organ donation is defined as: “…the removal of tissues from the human body from a person who recently died, or a living donor, for the purpose of transplanting.” (U.S Department of HHS. 2011). Unfortunately, …show more content…
Yet such an issue cannot be clarified until the questions that should be asked regarding the ethics of organ donation are answered: 1) who legitimately should decide how organs should be allocated; 2) how organs should then be [fairly] distributed; and 3) what defines a community receiving that …show more content…
2008). The current system is based on a voluntary basis; most patients awaiting organ donation “…must typically wait for organs to become available from donors who had checked off the boxes on driver’s licenses or fill(ed) out forms of consent.” (Gormley. 2010) prior to an anticipated death. Loewy & Loewy (2004) state that “…voluntary donation…is an example of altruism…” (P.201), but so often the opportunity for organ retrieval and salvaging is missed due to the assumption of refusal for organ donation prior to death (Cutler. 2002), familial refusal, or being hesitant to discuss such a controversial and emotive topic with dying patients and/or their families. Because of this, an approximate 80,000 patients are failed by the system and suffer long waits for organ transplant or receive no aid (Cutler. 2002). The texts affirm, “…in the 50 states today, there is no legally valid reason why a legally executed donor card should not have priority over the family’s opposition…” (Loewy&Loewy. 2004. P.205). Yet even with patient consent prior to death, providers often encounter difficulty in organ procurement due to distraught families’ refusal to consent to the procedure: “…the most common reason for missed donation opportunities is denial of consent by the donor's family.” (Cutler. 2002) Legislation on this area is vague and unsupportive, and more often than not, the
16OCT2014
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), “28,465 organ transplants were performed in the U.S. in 2010…[but] currently over 100,000 patients are still waiting for donations…” (Gormley. 2011). The topic of organ donation is contentious and controversial at best. While few can argue against the benefits to both individual and society of implementing organ donation programs, the means by which to accomplish such a feat are hotly debated in the medical, legal, ethical, and legislative spheres. Organ donation is defined as: “…the removal of tissues from the human body from a person who recently died, or a living donor, for the purpose of transplanting.” (U.S Department of HHS. 2011). Unfortunately, …show more content…
Yet such an issue cannot be clarified until the questions that should be asked regarding the ethics of organ donation are answered: 1) who legitimately should decide how organs should be allocated; 2) how organs should then be [fairly] distributed; and 3) what defines a community receiving that …show more content…
2008). The current system is based on a voluntary basis; most patients awaiting organ donation “…must typically wait for organs to become available from donors who had checked off the boxes on driver’s licenses or fill(ed) out forms of consent.” (Gormley. 2010) prior to an anticipated death. Loewy & Loewy (2004) state that “…voluntary donation…is an example of altruism…” (P.201), but so often the opportunity for organ retrieval and salvaging is missed due to the assumption of refusal for organ donation prior to death (Cutler. 2002), familial refusal, or being hesitant to discuss such a controversial and emotive topic with dying patients and/or their families. Because of this, an approximate 80,000 patients are failed by the system and suffer long waits for organ transplant or receive no aid (Cutler. 2002). The texts affirm, “…in the 50 states today, there is no legally valid reason why a legally executed donor card should not have priority over the family’s opposition…” (Loewy&Loewy. 2004. P.205). Yet even with patient consent prior to death, providers often encounter difficulty in organ procurement due to distraught families’ refusal to consent to the procedure: “…the most common reason for missed donation opportunities is denial of consent by the donor's family.” (Cutler. 2002) Legislation on this area is vague and unsupportive, and more often than not, the