Ethical Implications of Organ Donation - Essay Example

Lack of organ donors - there is a dearth or shortage of compatible organs for people who are waiting for suitable organs due to the requirements of a tissue and blood match, otherwise, the organs will be rejected by the body as a foreign object. I believe that all major donor agencies and even national governments should give a priority to these concerns such as tax incentives for the donors (McCarrick & Darragh, 2003). Other proposals were made to address a vital issue but the most common avenue is to conduct an advocacy campaign that will help to persuade people to become organ donors. Besides family members and close relatives, a search for viable organs has expanded to the prison population as well. The current lack of organs is due to increased demand as the organ transplantation process is now a fairly routine surgical procedure.

Black market - the urgent need for human organs has also caused a dark underside of a cottage industry which is the trafficking of illegal organs. In other instances, poor people may sell their organs, often with a devastating effect on the donor's health. A parallel market for organs obtained through illegal means has resulted in medical tourism people desperate for organs go to poor countries (Connell, 2010). A proposal made to make all organ procurement subject to free market forces has not been well received (Mahoney, 2010); today's present system based on altruism cannot keep pace with the demand resulting in the illegal market for organs. While the surveys indicate widespread public support for organ donation, in practice, people are either reluctant or unwilling to voluntarily donate their organs or those of deceased kin.

What piqued my interest in the topic of organ donations is that it is the responsibility of everybody to contribute to the betterment of society and organ donation is a way to do so. I am willing to donate my organs and those of my family members too as a contribution to society. It is one way to make the organs still useful by making them available to someone who needs them.

As an interim measure to alleviate the acute shortage of organs, the medical community as well as legal and ethics experts argue for financial incentives (cash rewards and tax breaks) for it is based on sound economic theory, which states if prices are raised for a certain commodity, a supply for such commodity will inevitably increase also. A more interesting avenue, although it is still a long way off, is to produce whole organs from human stem cells (Mummery, Wilmut, Stolpe, & Roelen, 2011); alternatively, cell transplantation into diseased organs for healing it.