The Attitude of the Community towards Paid Organ Donation - Case Study Example

[Teacher’s “The established deceased organ donation models in many countries, relying chiefly on altruism, have failed to motivate a sufficient number of donors” (Omar et al., 5). Paid organ donation is an issue which has been debated for many years and is surrounded by ethical factors that also involve the necessity to increase the number of organs available for transplant. Many authors and studies have already acknowledged the benefits of paid donations (Wellington and Edward, 1-13). Currently many individuals die due to the shortage of organs and the financial demand which is associated with organ failure even before the time to pay for the actual transplantation. Studies have also shown that any processes which reduce or inhibit an increase in the number of available organs will also worsen the current situation involving casualties associated with delayed or uncompleted organ transplants. Opinion polls were also carried out and to determine the attitude of the community towards paid organ donation, however, many people were still against the notion of one receiving a payment for his or her organs. The opinion of the public can be attributed to the conformation of society to particular norms and also the fact that the majority of individuals are poorly educated on the subject matter. Paid organ donation has been illustrated by many studies to be beneficial both financially and medically hence it should be legalized. Firstly, the main reason most people are against paid organ donations is that they are against the idea of placing a price body parts. However, society has been doing this for decades through the healthcare system. Denying paid organ donations is a sign of double standards as the patient will be required to pay for the transplant itself (Board, 13). Individuals are required to pay for medical services and some people are often denied access to the best medical care due to their inability to afford good health care insurance policies (Holland, 22-60). The problem of in ability to afford healthcare is not limited to developing countries as developed countries such as the United States continue to have problems in their health care system. According to estimates that were carried out by the United States Census Bureau, approximately 45% of the American adult population between the ages of 19 and 64 were not fully insured for the whole year. In addition, it was estimated that 30% of the population was under insured (Holland, 22-60). Despite the fact that the Canadian Health care system is publicly funded and hence more affordable, the government incurs a large amount of expenses from individuals who are suffering from organ debilitating disorders. In addition, health care may be readily available, however, this does not raise the number of organs available and this will increase the number of individuals on the waiting lists for an organ transplant. As mentioned above, the individuals on the waiting lists for organ transplants continue to increase and this factor can only be resolved by addressing the issue of organ scarcity (Davis, 344-349). The studies that were carried out by various nephrology departments stated that this scarcity will continue to increase and any factors that contribute to this scarcity will lead to the increase in the number of lives lost. In this case, the prohibition of paid organ donations can be considered a form of restriction and this will lead to the increase in causalities. Furthermore, opposing something that will benefit the patients conflicts against the moral obligations of the doctors and the health care system which is to ensure that the best services are given to improve the health of the community. Therefore, from an ethical perspective, legalizing paid organ donations allows doctors to adhere to the Hippocratic Oath which they took upon their graduation. The issue of paid organ donations is one that mainly revolves around ethics hence it is difficult to state objectively what is right or wrong. However, there are some factual aspects surrounding the issue which can be assessed. For example, scarcity of organs is a fact and even if an individual does not believe in paid organ donation this issue will not be resolved. It is also a fact that people are capable of donating certain organs such as the kidney without risking their lives. Therefore, the healthcare community must do everything possible to help preserve more lives and in this situation paid organ donation will help save many lives (Davis, 344-349). The current situation whereby paid organ donations are illegal forces individuals to look for alternative means for these health services and this will increase the number of patients who attain their organs through the Red Market illegally (Clay, 49). Such laws of restricting paid organ donations only affect the legal institutions however the illegal markets will continue to harvest organs and sell them for inflated prices. Therefore, this restriction is a promotion for these industries and it also increases the risk of the patient as well as facilitates other crimes. These organizations attain organs illegally and their services are not regulated by health inspectors or other medical organizations (Radcliffe-Richards, 252). This can increase the risk of infections being transmitted or other complications that can occur in both the recipient and the donor. The organs in this industry may also be attained unwillingly and the donor may be murdered after his or her organs have been harvested. Therefore, paid organ donations will reduce the number organs that are being harvested illegally as there will be more organs in the hospital which will be cheaper and under supervised and safer conditions. As mentioned above, illegalizing paid organ donations has also had a role in the scarcity of organs available in the hospitals. The unavailability has led to the increase in demand which in turn has increased the cost of organ transplant. Some individuals are then caught in between the problem of unavailability of organs and the issue funding for the required operation if the organs are available. In this situation paid organ donations will increase the organs that are available on the market and reduce the financial burden on both the government and the patients. Another ethical debate that has been raised by the debate on paid organ donations is that individuals are afraid of the “slippery slope” (Petersen et al., 451-457). In this situation the phrase refers to the scenario whereby paid organ donations will become uncontrollable. This will lead to some illegal means of harvesting organs and other unethical activities. Furthermore, people fear that this will lead to other means of attaining organs such as forced donations or the killing of people in order to attain organs. There is also fear that this may lead to bidding wars for human organs and this will lead to more illegal transplants. Other people believe this will actually increase the number if organs harvested illegally. People base this assumption on the fact that the red market is likely to offer higher prices for organs making the majority of organs in this market. It would also be unethical to have bid wars for organs (Clay, 49). However, the notion that legalizing paid organ donations will lead to the slippery slope is over exaggerated. Historically in society people have never allowed this tyranny and people will definitely rebel against innocent killings. The current laws which are in place also do not allow the slippery slope to occur. The aim of paid organ donation is to increase the number of available organs to save more lives; therefore, it is not logical for people to allow the loss of more lives due to this process. The only pertaining issue in this situation is that there is no conclusive studies which indicate the full implication of living with one kidney for example. Studies only show that it is possible to survive with one kidney. However, there is also evidence which indicates that the quality of life is greatly reduced and the extent of these effects is yet to be determined. In order for research to be carried out there is need for further funding which will be an extra expense on the government and healthcare institutions. The issue pertaining organ donation is one which has been assessed for several years. Studies have been dedicated towards organs from different systems of the body and one that has been mainly assessed is the genitourinary system. According to the Clinical Journal of the America Society of Nephrology studies indicated that the government would reduce healthcare expenses if they paid ten thousand dollars for each kidney donation. There are several factors that were discovered during this interview and one includes an increment in the number of available donations by approximately 5% or more (Mahillo, 1069-1074). This would be beneficial financial and in terms of healthcare services. More organ transplantations may be carried out meaning there are less causalities due to organ failure. Financially, the study indicated that paying $10 000 for each donation will also save the patients approximately three hundred and twenty dollars each (Mahillo, 1069-1074). However, this study only indicates the minimum financial savings and the researchers stated that if the plan was to be improved and intensified it could save the government and the people thousands of dollars. Specifically, the increase that results from this approach would reduce the costs which are incurred by patients for dialysis purposes which is very expensive and amounts to approximately five thousand dollars a year. In addition, dialysis is required every year as the kidney pathologies are chronic and can only be fully repaired by a transplant. Paid organ donations should be legalized as the need to increase the number of available organs is an emergency due to the number of individuals on the waiting lists. This is a problem not restricted to Canada but involves many other developed countries (Mahillo, 1069-1074). According to studies carried out in the United States, there were more than ninety eight thousand patients on the waiting list for kidney transplantation and there were four thousand five hundred deaths due to the scarcity of organs (Mahillo, 1069-1074). Looking at these figures raises the ethical question of prohibiting paid organ donations as an indirect cause for the shortage in the amount organs available for transfer. Other studies have also indicated that the current organs that are being donated today are not very healthy and not viable for transplantation. This factor could easily be addressed by legalizing paid organ donations. In addition, this also illustrates that legalizing paid organ donations will play a role in reducing the number of complications that result from organ transplants as well as the successful number of transplants and reduction in the number of organ rejections. As mentioned above one of the main factors which is influencing the legalization of paid organ donation is the fact that the population cannot accept this as ethically acceptable. However, many people are becoming aware of the problem and the potential benefits that are accompanied with legalizing this process. A survey that was carried out indicated that approximately 65% of the people asked were willing to accept paid organ donation (Board, 13). However, the study indicated that among the medical professionals there were fewer acceptances for paid organ donations (Tong 429-427). This is ironic as medical professional are among the highest paid in the world and their jobs involves providing healthcare services for money. In addition, the surgeons who perform these transplants receive the highest salaries within the medical profession. Among the medical professionals only 25% was willing to accept paid organ donations (Board, 13). People were also asked if they would be willing to donate their organs and the majority of people said no, however many changed their minds when a certain amount of money was offered for this service. In summation, the issue of paid organ donation is debatable and this is mainly due to the ethical implications that surround the issue and the potential risk of abuse that surround the issue. These risk factors can be acknowledged however these should not be used to negate the benefits of paid organ donations. In addition, there are measures that can be carried out to reduce the risk factors particularly through the implementation of certain regulatory policies by the government. Numerous researches have proven that legalizing paid organ donations would lead to an increase in the number of available organs. Works Cited Ambagtsheer, Frederike, Damián Zaitch, and Willem Weimar. "The battle for human organs: organ trafficking and transplant tourism in a global context." Global Crime 14.1 (2013): 1-26. Board, Sounding. "Ethical incentives—not payment—for organ donation." N Engl J Med 346.25 (2002). 13 Clay, Megan. "A free market for human organs." The International Trafficking of Human Organs: A Multidisciplinary Perspective (2011): 49. Davis, Connie L. "How to increase living donation." Transplant International 24.4 (2011): 344-349. Holland, Stephen, ed. Arguing about Bioethics. Routledge, 2012. 22-60 Mahillo, Beatriz, et al. "2009 Global Data in Organ Donation and Transplantation: Activities, Laws, and Organization." Transplantation 92.10 (2011): 1069-1074. Omar, Faisal, Gustav Tinghög, and Stellan Welin. "Incentivizing deceased organ donation: A Swedish priority-setting perspective." Scandinavian journal of public health (2011): 1403494810391522. 5 Petersen, Thomas Søbirk, and Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen. "Ethics, organ donation and tax: a proposal." Journal of medical ethics 38.8 (2012): 451-457. Radcliffe-Richards, J., et al. "The case for allowing kidney sales." Arguing About Bioethics (2012): 252. Tong, Allison, et al. "Public awareness and attitudes to living organ donation: systematic review and integrative synthesis." Transplantation 96.5 (2013): 429-437. Wellington, Alison J., and Edward A. Sayre. "An evaluation of financial incentive policies for organ donations in the United States." Contemporary Economic Policy29.1 (2011): 1 13. Read More