Organ Donation: An Ethical Dilemmas On Organ Transplantation

Walter Payton, former Bears running back, had died from a form of liver cancer. Even though his doctors were very optimistic about his condition in the past, he still died from primary sclerosing cholangitis. Per the Baltimore Sun, primary sclerosing cholangitis is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks its own tissues and scars the bile ducts. His physicians couldn’t believe that the problems he had from the liver disease would quickly kill a man with his physical abilities. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., diagnosed Payton with a side effect that caused his ducts to drain bile from his liver. Once the cancer set in doctors couldn’t do much to save him.

Patients on the waiting list are in end-stage organ failure and have been evaluated by a transplant physician at hospitals in the U.S. where organ transplants are performed. Policies that dictate organ allocation are created and revised through a consensus-building process that involves UNOS committees and a board of directors, all composed of transplant physicians, government officials, specialists in immunology and experts in organ donation, as well as donor families, transplant recipients and members of the general public. Specifics of waiting list rules vary by organ.² The time patients spend on the heart transplant waiting list can last anywhere from days to months, and in some cases years, depending on listing status. The availability of a donor with matching blood type and body size also affects the wait time.

In Joanna MacKay's article, 'Organ Selling Will Save Lives", sides with the legalization of organ selling, due to her main focus she emphasizes on kidney failure. In ignorance of government, patients all over the globe are dying on the wait for a kidney transplant.She presents her ideas that government should not prohibit the sale of organs. She writes "lives shouldn’t be wasted they should be saved". Her thesis is understandable and she supports it with good reasons.

I find this issue compelling because I know it affects a lot of people. If this proposal actually went into effect, it would be much easier to receive help if you had a damaged organ. Organ transplants in the present day are very expensive even if you have health insurance with high coverage. Another problem is that some organs are so high in demand that there is a waiting list, on which patients can remain for months or years. Increasing the number of donated organs would increase the number of operations which in effect would bring down the expenses and eliminate organ waiting

More than 120,000 people died last year while waiting for a donor, donation of organs costs nothing (“Why be an Organ Donor”). Becoming an organ donor opens up various options such as organ donation or body donation. Body donation is where the bodies will be given to universities or schools around America, where the students of medicine department will do research on the body to figure out why the organ failed (“Body Donor Program”). The body will not be presented to the public and after it is researched it will be cremated and returned to the family as ash 's (“Body Donor Program”). With that being said some of the organs will be perfect to donate, but some may not meet all the requirements for donation , such as correct blood types, free of sexually transmitted diseases, diabetes, and mental health issues ( "Saving Lives and Giving Hope by Reducing the Organ Waiting

Thesis statement: The problem of organ shortage is a very serious now. More and more people are waiting for organs to continue their lives. We have the responsibilities to understand the situation and give a hand to solve the problem.

Main Social Problem: Refusal of many people to donate due to many factors and obstacles.

Organ donation is currently the only successful way of saving the lives of patients with organ failure and other diseases that require a new organ altogether. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services there is currently 122,566 patients both actively and passively on the transplant list. This number will continue to increase, in fact, every ten minutes another person is added to the list. Unfortunately, twenty-two of these people die while waiting for an organ on a daily basis. Each day, about eighty Americans receive a lifesaving organ transplant. We need a way to save these lives, and we have one: Organ donation. When you become an organ donor, you can saves the lives up to eight people. Controversy surrounds this option for many reasons, and some do not find this option to be ethical but most believe it is what God’s calls us to do. The Catholic sees it as love and charity.

In the article, "Organ Sales Will Save Lives," by Joanne MacKay, is an informative essay that appeals to a readers emotions by raising awareness that there are thousands of people in the world that are in need of life-saving organs, specifically kidneys. MacKay does a fantastic job capturing the readers’ attention by describing the grueling dialysis treatments patients suffer from End Stage Renal Disease and the lengthy wait for a cadaver kidney donation. Unhappy with these options, many patients opt for a third choice which leads them into the pit which is known as the black market. MacKay’s description of the black market has the reader visualizing a run down slum with the surgery being done in a small filthy back room. The reason a patient

The act Donating Organs, either prior to death or after death, is considered by many to be one of the most generous, selfless and worthwhile decisions that one could make. The decision to donate an organ could mean the difference of life or death for a recipient waiting for a donor. Organ donations offer patients new chances at living more productive, healthy and normal lives and offers them back to families, friends and neighborhoods.

Organ Donation, only two hundred one thousand, four hundred and fifty-nine people are registered at death since 1988 and only one hundred fifty-two thousand and ninety people were living donors since 1988. Compared to the amount of people who died with organs that are donatable, that 's not much and the amount of living donors compared to the amount of living people right now is three hundred twenty-five million, seven hundred sixty-two thousand, seven hundred and ten the amount of living donors is only 21.4190748899% of the population. It seems many people that can donate don’t know all the facts of organ donation. Even though some people believe stuff they view on television, television writers usually over exaggerate things. Despite advances in medicine and technology, and increased awareness of organ donation and transplantation, there continues to be a gap between supply and demand. The United States should be an opt-in system instead of an opt-out system and if anything help people change their minds and become either live donors or donors when they pass-away with facts, common misconceptions, and myths.

In 2017, 510 people deceased donors donated their organs, saving over 1,400 people, and giving them the gift of organ donation. In 2017. ‘The most important thing that helps a family's decision is their knowing the donation decision of their loved one' (Donate Life, 2017) only 60% of Australians discuss their wishes for organ donation with their family, meaning the other 40% of Australian families are more than likely to decline organ donation, this is one of the biggest barriers for Australian organ donation. Also, during a conducted survey between the year 12 health class and other students, within figure 1, it can be shown that only 13.4% of people were registered to become an organ donor in Australia, compared to Australia's 76% (Transplant Australia, 2016). Furthermore, 40% of Australians don’t know if their religion supports organ and tissue donation, and 20% of families that declined donation in 2014 did so out of religious or cultural concerns, this amount is huge, if people who were educated in whether or not their religion accepts organ donation, a whole 20% of families would allow their loved one to proceed with organ and tissue transplantation, this barrier is one of the largest ones to date. Another barrier that stops organ donation procedures is the knowledge of people and thinking they're either not healthy enough, or they're too old to donate their organs, the majority (78%) of Australians aged 65+ years are willing to donate organs and tissues, yet 37% assume they are too old to be considered for organ and tissue donation (Donatelife, 2014). In figure 2, it can be shown that although Australia may be leading in successful organ transplantations in the world, that the reason is

NEW YORK (WENY) - You often hear you have to guard your heart, but what if your life depended on it. For one local women battling heart disease, her heart beats are numbered.

Imagine if you were in need of a transplant and was waiting for the day when you found your donor match. Many recipients are stuck on the waitlist for a donor and sometimes even pass away because the waitlist took too long. To avoid this issue, a few ideas or systems should be considered in order to make the process quicker. Currently organ donations only consist of hair, blood plasma, and sperm and egg. Since removing your kidney is a riskier procedure than donating your hair, receiving money for the process will influence people to donate. Adding kidneys to the accepted list of organ sales can cause an uproar both good and bad, but may overall benefit those in need. The process of organ donations in the United States is an unstable procedure, but with the improvement in the system black markets can be stopped, awareness can be improved, and more lives will be saved.