Organ Allocation Case Study : Correctional Healthcare

In today’s medical field there is a profuse amount of room for ethical questioning concerning any procedure performed by a medical professional. According to the book Law & Ethics for Medical Careers, by Karen Judson and Carlene Harrison, ethics is defined as the standards of behavior, developed as a result of one’s concept of right and wrong (Judson, & Harrison, 2010). With that in mind, organ transplants for inmates has become a subject in which many people are asking questions as to whether it is morally right or wrong.

The patient described in this paper will be referred to as Jonathan Toews to ensure patients confidentiality. Jonathan Toews, is a sixty three year old man, born on August 23rd 1956, and lives with his eldest son. He was married two times and has three children, two children from his first marriage and one from his second. He lives in northern Ontario but originally was not born here, he moved here shortly following his second divorce. He is of Italian decent and is a practicing catholic. The patient weights 95kgs, is 178cm tall and has a body mas index (BMI) of 28.3. He said he used to play soccer when he was younger but since does not keep active or get the recommended amount of daily activity. Jonathan says he smokes around one pack or cigarettes a day and has a alcoholic drink roughly three to four drinks per week, he also describes that he eats fast food a few times a week. The patient now has congestive heart failure as a consequence of his MI. He was transferred from another hospital at the beginning of November and currently is waiting for more testing before he can be discharged from the hospital or moved to another facility. The patient has some known comorbidities that can exacerbate his CHF, this includes smoking, obesity, and noncompliance with medications.

Organ transplantation is a term that most people are familiar with. When a person develops the need for a new organ either due to an accident or disease, they receive a transplant, right? No, that 's not always right. When a person needs a new organ, they usually face a long term struggle that they may never see the end of, at least while they are alive. The demand for transplant organs is a challenging problem that many people are working to solve. Countries all over the world face the organ shortage epidemic, and they all have different laws regarding what can be done to solve it. However, no country has been able to create a successful plan without causing moral and ethical dilemmas.

Today we are in great need of a solution to solve the problem of the shortage of human organs available for transplant. The website for Donate Life America estimates that in the United States over 100 people per day are added to the current list of over 100,000 men, women, and children that are waiting for life-saving transplants. Sadly enough, approximately 18 people a day on that list die just because they cannot outlive the wait for the organ that they so desperately need to survive. James Burdick, director of the Division of Transplantation for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services confirms, “The need for organ transplants continues to grow and this demand continues to outpace the supply of transplantable organs”. The

Jonathan is a 63 year old man, born on August 23rd, 1956 and lives with his eldest son. He was married two times and has three children, two children from his first marriage and one from his second. He lives in northern Ontario but originally was not born here, he moved here shortly following his second divorce. He is of Italian decent and is a practicing Catholic. The patients weight is 95 kilograms; he is 178 centimeters all and has a body mass index (BMI) of 28.3. Jonathan says he smokes around one pack of cigarettes a day, does not get a lot of exercise and eats fast food a few times a week. The patient now has congestive heart failure as a consequence of his MI. He was transferred from another hospital in the beginning of November and currently is waiting for more testing before he can be discharged from the hospital or moved to another facility. The patient has some known comorbidities that can exacerbate his CHF, this includes

Faced with a loved one’s organ failure and in need of an organ donor to survive, are we concerned with the organs origin? As of July 2017, according to the Human Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), there are 117,000 people on the organ waiting list (over 82% of those require a kidney), and an average of 22 people die each day waiting for organs (HRSA, 2017). Comparatively, the amount of prisoners executed in the United States each year is relatively small, yet one organ donor can save as many as eight lives and a cadaver can be used numerous ways in research (HRSA, 2017). Additionally, prisoners can be considered as live organ donors, especially when volunteering a kidney. Allowing inmate organ donations seems simple, yet it is shrouded with moral, ethical, and possible legal concerns. Arguments favoring or opposing incarcerated donors include the prisoner’s health, vulnerabilities, retribution, deterrence, and any form of compensation by reducing sentencing or stays of execution. The ethical aspect of medical staffs and courts involved in inmate executions and the removal of organs leads to heated discussions. Remarkably, there are no federal laws concerning inmate organ donors, and only Utah enacted state laws on the issue. Subsequently, other than Utah, any prisoner’s request to take part in organ donation is decided by prison officials or the governor where the inmate is confined. As the need for organs continues to outpace

For over 13 year I have worked in healthcare and I have seen multiple patients die from organ failure as they waited on the transplant list. I’ve seen patients lose their quality of life as they sit in hospitals for weeks and months at a time as they waited for a kidney transplant. I also know people who have donated the organs of their loved ones and were blessed to know that their loss was the beginning of another person’s life.

Innovative advances in the practice of medicine have increased the life span of the average American. This along with the growing population in the United States and has created a shortfall in the number of organs available for transplant today. The current system of allocation used to obtain organs for transplant faces difficulty because of two primary reasons according to Moon (2002). The two perceptions that stop potential organs donors are that the allocation criteria is unfair and favors certain members of society and/or that organs may be allocated to someone who has destroyed their organs by misuse (Moon, 2002). Many individuals decline to donate organs because anyone requiring an organ transplant is placed on a waiting list and it is possible that individuals who have destroyed their organs by their own actions or convicted criminals could receive donated organs before someone whose organs are failing through no fault of their own and positively contribute to society. When a celebrity or wealthy individual requires a transplant they are often viewed as "jumping" the waitlist but

Jonathan is a 63-year-old man, born on August 23rd, 1956 and lives with his eldest son. He was married two times and has three children, two children from his first marriage and one from his second. He lives in northern Ontario but originally was from southern Ontario, he moved here shortly following his second divorce. He is of Italian decent and is a practicing Catholic. The patient’s weight is 95 kilograms; he is 178 centimeters tall and has a body mass index (BMI) of 28.3. Jonathan says he smokes around one pack of cigarettes a day, does not exercise enough and eats fast food a few times a week. The patient now has congestive heart failure as a consequence of his myocardial infarction (MI) or heart attack. He was transferred from another hospital in the beginning of November and was waiting for more tests to be completed before he could be discharged. Jonathan has some known comorbidities that can exacerbate his CHF, this includes smoking, obesity, and noncompliance with medications.

The need of human organs for transplantation increases every single day and every passing month. Thousands of people are on the waiting list hoping for a chance at a new life. Unfortunately, the supply of available organs through organ donations is not able to provide for the growing demand of organs. According to a research conducted by the Hasting Center, “there are close to 100,000 people on the waiting list for a kidney, heart, liver, lung, and intestines, the pressure to find ways to increase their supply is enormous (Capland, 2014, p. 214). The shortage of human organs is leading people to participate in unethical acts. The pressure of finding available organs has resulted in healthcare professional and

Every day, 20 people die because they are unable to receive a vital organ transplant that they need to survive. Some of these people are on organ donation lists and some of them are not. The poor and minorities are disproportionately represented among those who do not receive the organs they need. In the United States alone, nearly 116,000 people are on waiting lists for vital organ transplants. Another name is added to this list every 10 minutes. This paper will argue that organ donation should not be optional. Every person who dies, or enters an irreversible vegetative state with little or no brain function, should have his or her organs-more specifically, those among the organs that are suitable for donation-harvested. A single healthy donor who has died can save up to eight lives (American Transplant Foundation).

In February 2003, 17-year-old Jesica Santillan received a heart-lung transplant at Duke University Hospital that went badly awry because, by mistake, doctors used donor organs from a patient with a different blood type. The botched operation and subsequent unsuccessful retransplant opened a discussion in the media, in internet chat rooms, and in ethicists' circles regarding how we, in the United States, allocate the scarce commodity of organs for transplant. How do we go about allocating a future for people who will die without a transplant? How do we go about denying it? When so many are waiting for their shot at a life worth living, is it fair to grant multiple organs or multiple

The need for organ donations creates another ethical dilemma for Emergency Room Physicians. “Obtaining organs from emergency room patients has long been considered off-limits in the United States because of ethical and logistical concerns” (Stein, 2010). The shortage of organs available for transplant has caused many patients die while waiting. A pilot project from the federal government “has begun promoting an alternative that involves surgeons taking organs, within minutes, from patients whose hearts have stopped beating but who have not been declared brain-dead” (Stein, 2010). “The Uniform Determination of Death Act

In addition, surgeons have learned how to keep increasingly patients alive longer and how to make more people eligible for transplants. Still, there are shortage of organs donation. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), a non-profit, scientific and educational organization, organizes transplant registration. 3448 people died in 1995 because organs were not available for them in time. A third to a half of all people on waiting lists die before an organ can be found for them. This shortage raises several difficult ethical problems. How should the limited supply of organs be distributed? Should donors be encouraged to donate by the use of financial incentives? Opponents of the sale of organs point out that the inevitable result will be further exploitation of poor people by the

Today, only 40% of Americans are registered as organ donors. Over the last 20 years millions and millions of dollars have been spent by lots of wonderful organizations trying to make people aware of the needed of more organ donors (David Undis 83). Over years, some people have argued that the transplant should be based on fairness according to the time waiting on list and been moving to the last ones, and not give it to someone who will take more advantage to it. People who avoid the organ location system by utilizing the exchanges are freeing up organ for people who must remain on the organ waiting list. Every year hundreds of people in the United Kingdom died, while waiting for an organ transplant. Although, the highest number of organ transplant