Organ Donations

Organ Donations Don’t Always Go To The Right Person Since the establishment of organ transplantation waitlists, transplant priorities have been based on location and severity. With the sizeable amount of research being conducted to make advances in transplantation, many are unaware how important this waiting list is—and how many people are on it. Many patients on waiting lists are in such desperate situations that they may turn to the black market to buy an organ and transplant. While medical advances are being made to create artificial organs, it is very expensive and still years away from becoming the norm. Because of these dynamics, priority should be dependent on many other factors, and not just location and severity. The organ transplant …show more content…
While an older donor may still have healthy organs, organs from donors should only be transplanted within their age group (President’s Council on Bioethics 33). The real issue is that an older organ may not last a younger patient a full lifetime, which would result in the patient returning to the transplant list for a second time. Furthermore, there may be a suspicion of discrimination within the transplant system. Many minorities do not get organs because of a predisposition to organ failure (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 27). Further research must be done before excluding minorities from receiving organs. If there truly is a predisposition for organ failure in minorities, then maybe there should be separate waitlists categorized by …show more content…
The high demand for organs has resulted in illegal transplantations within the borders of the United States. There are “broker-friendly” hospitals within the United States. These hospitals have surgeons that will perform the transplant if an organ is provided. Some people from overseas will travel to the United States with organs just because it involves a free trip to America (Interlandi, 63). The illegal organ market is much more prevalent than people think. An estimated one-fifth of kidney transplants are completed through the black market (Interlandi, 64). Due to the fact that American doctors are performing illegal transplants, the number of patients receiving black market organs are growing. Additionally, organs from living donors are in higher demand. A kidney taken from a live donor has proven to last twice as long as a kidney from a donor that has already died (Interlandi, 64). This is also increasing the number of illegal organ