With the exponential rise in the need for organ transplants far outweighing the pool of potential organs and donors, it is not surprising that polarized opinions abound as to who should have access to life-saving scarce resource, such as lungs, livers, kidneys and hearts. Given the shortage, many argue that poor character or arguably negligent health habits should limit one's access to such a scarce and critical resource. Included among the group most widely cited for exclusion include those incarcerated, alcoholics and drug abusers and those living in the U.S. illegally. Many would also argue that even poor health habits such as smoking or obesity, or unavoidable conditions such as a developmental disability should impede one's access for a life-saving transplant.
On the surface it may seem simple enough to generate a short list of those who should have less of a chance at a transplant, given that the transplant list is long with children, dedicated public servants and others who might appear more deserving. Nevertheless, justifying such a policy from an ethical perspective rather than from our subjective moral intuitions imposes daunting challenges, at best.
Read the following and then proceed to the Discussion Board activity:
- Module Notes
- Munson text assigned pages
•Jonsen, A. (2007). The God squad and the origins of transplantation ethics and policy. Journal Of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 35(2), 238-240.
- Bernstein, N. (2011, December 20). For illegal immigrant, line is drawn at transplant. New York Times.
For this assignment you will be responding from the perspective of a bioethics consultant:
The US Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation is in the process of revising their current policies. Recognizing your prominence in field of bioethics, the Committee has requested your assistance with ranking groups of people for potential kidney, liver or lung transplants. The groups under consideration are Alcoholics, lifetime smokers, prisoners (outside of death row inmates) and illegal immigrants.
As you begin thinking of how you'll rank the groups consider these points:
•Any alternatives that may be available and the relevant cost factors that might be associated with the fair allocation, under the bioethics principle of justice.
- If you do not believe in ranking the individuals, consider what method you would find more agreeable for allocating the organs.
•You must support your opinion with ethical justifications using any of the relevant principles of bioethics and any appropriate theories studied over the past six modules.