Currently, organ donation is the safest method for both donator and receiver for organ transplantation. Organ donation can occur with:
- a deceased donor, who can give kidneys, pancreas, liver, lungs, heart, intestinal organs
- a living donor, who can give a kidney, or a portion of the liver, lung, intestine, or pancreas
In order for a person to become an organ donor, blood and oxygen must flow through the organs until the time of recovery to ensure viability. This requires that a person die under circumstances that have resulted in an irreparable neurological injury, usually from massive trauma to the brain such as aneurysm, stroke or automobile accident. Only after all efforts to save the patient's life have been exhausted, tests are performed to confirm the absence of brain or brain stem activity, and brain death has been declared, is donation a possibility. The state donor registry is searched to determine if the patient has personally consented to donation. If the potential donor is not found on the registry, his or her legally authorized representative (usually a spouse, relative or close friend) is offered the opportunity to authorize the donation. Once the donation decision is established, the family is asked to provide a medical and social history. Donation professionals determine which organs can be transplanted and to which patients on the national transplant waiting list the organs are to be allocated.
In my opinion, the system we have for organ donation is regulated in a way to ensure that every donor and receiver goes through a proper procedure to have a safe donation experience. The transplant list helps organize the importance of which patients needs the transplant first, and makes sure that everyone is treated equally. If selling organs becomes a legal process, not only will those with less money never receive an organ, the entire system of organ donation will become chaotic. Organ transplantation is a sensitive issue, and adding money into this process can complicate the entire procedure in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI think the legalization of selling organs will completely ruin the proper organ donation procedure that is in place. There are many ethical and sentimental steps in the process that we cannot afford for it to be turned into a heartless, chaotic buyer-seller business. Also, for a donation to be possible, a patient is to be declared brain dead. If the organ market is legalized, unfortunately many will not care to wait for proper brain death declaration. Organ donation is a safe process and should not be jeopardized.
ReplyDeleteSelling of organs definitely should not be legalized because it will cause a lot more issues. I believe legalizing selling organs will cause more problems when it comes to who can afford organs and not. This can lead to many illegal crimes and then also the issue of inequality plays a role. The system of organ donation we have going on right now is pretty efficient because I think it is fair. It is safely organized and the amount of health risks have been reduced. A specific procedure is followed so that everyone has equal opportunity to receive donations.
ReplyDeleteAlthough there are ethical issues with proper organ transplantation, the system that we have right now is a very effective and beneficial one. It allows a person to have their own right and willingness to donate an organ. The individual donating the organ also needs to be brain dead in order to allow for the donation. Once we allow the selling of organs, it will cause so many more ethical issues and problems. Like Sweta said, the lower end of the population who don't have money will be less likely to get an organ transplant. Also, people on the other end may abuse the selling of their body parts for money. Organ transplantation is a very controversial and tricky issue.
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