PHI FPX3200 Assessment 4 Robbing the Dead: Is Organ Conscription Ethical?
Robbing the Dead: Is Organ Conscription Ethical?
Science has made many technological advancements that have revolutionized almost every profession. The medical profession has also made healthcare proactive through the utilization of new technologies in healthcare. Healthcare professionals use healthcare technologies to deliver life-saving and high-quality treatments to patients. Organ transplantation has proved one of the most beneficial techniques of medical science. Organ transplantation involves the transfer of organs from the body of donors to the body of recipients. When organs like the heart, lungs, eyes, liver, kidneys, and pancreas fail to demonstrate normal physiology in the body of the recipients then the compatible organs from donors are transplanted into the recipients to save their lives. This is done to prolong the life spans of persons suffering from chronic diseases (Bezinover & Saner, 2019). Organ conscription refers to the transplantation of organs of a dead person into an alive person. This assessment will provide insight into the moral concerns regarding conscripted organs, requirements for policy amendments, and the ethical consideration of transplanting these organs. Get PHI FPX3200 Assessment 4 Robbing the Dead: Is Organ Conscription Ethical?
Moral Considerations of Organ Conscription Policy
Policies are developed to ensure that all practices must be in the interest of the public. The healthcare department of America formulates and continues to make changes in policies related to organ transplantations. A study revealed that 20 persons in America died in 2020 just because of the unavailability of alternative organs and on the other side many army men died in 2020 with healthy organs (Israni et al., 2021). This piece of evidence supports the logical stance of the organ conscription policy but not the ethical and philosophical aspects of organ transplantation. The philosophical aspect is that organ transplantation must comply with the altruism philosophy and the ethical aspect of organ transplantation is that the ethical principle of autonomy makes it obligatory for healthcare professionals to consider the will and permission of the person for organ donation. Glazier & Mone opposed this stance by stating that the principle of autonomy does not apply to dead persons because they cannot show their consent (Glazier & Mone, 2019).
PHI FPX3200 Assessment 4 Robbing the Dead: Is Organ Conscription Ethical?
The principles of Utilitarianism advocate for the benefits of the population by focusing on the outcomes, not the actions. According to this principle if an action is in the interest of the majority of the population, then it does not matter whether the action is right or wrong. This principle supports the transplantation of conscripted organs. According to the organ transplantation policy of America, all persons who proclaim officially to donate their organs to after their death to save the lives of others are the donors. This elucidated policy represents the importance and need of the hour to encourage donation because of the escalating demands for organs to save the lives of critical patients (Lewis et al., 2020).
Fairness and Justness of Organ Conscription Policy
The concept of informed consent is acquainted in most countries and there are proper policies for informed consent of donating organs. Informed consent is an alternative approach that allows persons to choose to donate their organs after death for good causes. Lack of knowledge makes these policies unfair and unjust. Most people do not know about these donation policies and because of this lack of knowledge many precious lives cannot be saved (Akbulut et al., 2020).
PHI FPX3200 Assessment 4 Robbing the Dead: Is Organ Conscription Ethical?
Another unfairness and injustice are to delay in the transplantation of organs and making the people wait for receiving the organs. Patients should not be put on waiting lists if donors are not available. Balwani et al many people have to face death in the United States just because of not supplying the organ and putting the patients waiting (Balwani et al., 2018). Lack of education, religion and research affect the policies of organ transplantation. To promote organ conscription policies promoting public awareness and education are inevitable strategies. Enhancing awareness about these policies in public will be very effective in improving consent for organ donation on a larger level (Akbulut et al., 2020).
Significance of Consent for Organ Donation
The principle of autonomy is one most significant ethical principles of healthcare. According to this principle, healthcare professionals must respect the right of decision-making of persons to make choices for the care process. Consent is very important for the donation of organs. Consent for a donation of organs varies with gender, religion, culture, economic status, and education levels (Uzuntarla, 2018). America also follows the principle of autonomy in making policies which is why the US incorporated the policies of organ donation consent. These policies ensure the rights of the person to make consent. Many countries still there who have not developed policies for patient consent in organ donation, the primary reason is the imbalance between the supply and demand of organs (Khush, 2018).
Alternative Policies and Organ Shortages
Organ donation is becoming challenging day by day. When demands for organs increase then the supply of organs then it creates disparities in organ donation. Studies show that in the United States, more than 45% of donors showed consent for organ donation after their death. The demand for organs is increasing with time. Many countries have a greater number of organs than the US because of not inclusion of informed consent policies for organ donation after death (Lentine et al., 2019). There is a dire need to implement a more supportive policy for organ donation to balance the demand and supply of organs. If the effective policy is not implemented then it will result in a hike in mortality rates in the US (Neizer et al., 2020).
PHI FPX3200 Assessment 4 Robbing the Dead: Is Organ Conscription Ethical?
For developing alternative organ donation policies in the USA, it is imperative to consider the principle of Utilitarianism. Furthermore, indemnity from consent can be integrated into certain situations and scenarios to cope with organ shortage issues and high rates of mortality (Jericho, 2018).
Conclusion
Advancements in healthcare have made lives more comfortable and easier. Organ donation is a most beneficial technique of healthcare that ensure the prolonged expectancy of life. The imbalance between organ donation and the supply of organs is creating healthcare disparities. The ethical principle of healthcare guides the inclusion of consent of donors for donating the organs, informed consent policies enable the donors to make choices in their lives to donate their organs after death. But the lack of awareness about these policies is an actual hurdle in making a balance between the supply and demand of organs. increasing awareness can be very beneficial to reduce the shortage of organs in the US.
References
Akbulut, S., Ozer, A., Gokce, A., Demyati, K., Saritas, H., & Yilmaz, S. (2020). Attitudes, awareness, and knowledge levels of the Turkish adult population toward organ donation: Study of a nationwide survey. World Journal of Clinical Cases, 8(11), 2235–2245.
https://doi.org/10.12998/wjcc.v8.i11.2235
Balwani, M., Patel, A., Patel, H., Pasari, A., Patel, U., Tolani, P., & Kute, V. (2018). Deceased organ donation in India – current challenges and scenario. Indian Journal of Transplantation, 12(3), 174.
https://doi.org/10.4103/ijot.ijot_26_18
Bezinover, D., & Saner, F. (2019). Organ transplantation in the modern era. BMC Anesthesiology, 19(1).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12871-019-0704-z
Glazier, A., & Mone, T. (2019). The success of Opt-In organ donation policy in the United States. JAMA, 322(8), 719.
https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2019.9187
Israni, A. K., Zaun, D., Rosendale, J. D., Schaffhausen, C., McKinney, W., & Snyder, J. J. (2021). OPTN/SRTR 2019 annual data report: Deceased organ donors. American Journal of Transplantation, 21(S2), 567–604.
https://doi.org/10.1111/ajt.16491
Jericho, B. G. (2018). Organ donation after circulatory death. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 128(2), 1. https://doi.org/10.1213/ane.0000000000003448
Khush, K. K. (2018). Donor selection in the modern era. Annals of Cardiothoracic Surgery, 7(1), 126–134.
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Lentine, K. L., Lam, N. N., & Segev, D. L. (2019). Risks of living kidney donation: Current state of knowledge on outcomes important to donors. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology: CJASN, 14(4), 597–608.
https://doi.org/10.2215/CJN.11220918
Lewis, A., Koukoura, A., Tsianos, G.-I., Gargavanis, A. A., Nielsen, A. A., & Vassiliadis, E. (2020). Organ donation in the US and Europe: The supply vs demand imbalance. Transplantation Reviews, 35(2), 100585.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trre.2020.100585
Neizer, H., Singh, G. B., Gupta, S., & Singh, S. K. (2020). Addressing donor-organ shortages using extended criteria in lung transplantation. Annals of Cardiothoracic Surgery, 9(1), 49–50.
https://doi.org/10.21037/acs.2019.10.01
Uzuntarla, Y. (2018). Knowledge and attitudes of health personnel about organ donation: A tertiary hospital example, Turkey. Transplantation Proceedings, 50(10), 2953–2960. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.transproceed.2018.08.004
