Cause and Effect Essay- A trend or Phenomenon Related to the Sale, Trade or Donation of Human Organs

Cause and Effect Essay- A trend or Phenomenon Related to the Sale, Trade or Donation of Human Organs

Organ donation is one of the significant medical advancements that save lives. It is defined as the surgical removal of tissues or organs from one individual to another (Abouna, 2003). The source of the organs is known as the donor, while the other is the recipient. The medical process of transplanting is a necessity today due to the failure of organs because of disease or injury. Physicians have recorded successful transplantations of donated organs, which include the heart, kidneys, lungs, pancreas, liver, and uterus. Tissues that have been transplanted successfully include bones, skin, veins, nerves, and tendons (Deshmukh & Baheti, 2020). The most commonly donated organs include the kidneys, heart, and liver. Organ donors can be dead or alive. Despite the ability to save lives through organ donation, various issues raise moral and ethical controversies, such as high risk and incidences of organ failure, lack of adequate supply, long waiting periods, and increasing deaths during the waiting period. These issues have brought to the limelight methods of allocating the available organs, the supply of the organs, and the utilization of living donors, who are mainly volunteers and sometimes include minors (Abouna, 2003). Just as with any other medical practice, organ donation is subject to the varying beliefs of patients (donors, recipients, and their families), society, and health workers. Regardless of these varying perspectives, organ donation remains a beneficial medical practice that saves lives. To maximize these benefits, health workers need to ensure that respect is maintained when dealing with varied patients by fulfilling their wishes and placing their interests while observing the ethics, morality, and religious aspects that govern a society. The varying beliefs, cultures, and perspectives of healthcare providers, patients, donors, and relatives introduce a number of ethical concerns, which are being tackled through different legislation. Do you need help with your assignment ? Reach out to us at eminencepapers.com.

The Process of Organ Donation

Organ donation begins once the individual makes the decision. Prior to death, individuals register as organ donors. Various religious factions encouraged organ donation as an act of charity. The individual must provide written consent in the presence of two witnesses. One of the witnesses should be a close relative. Once the individual passes on, the next of kin sees to it that the organs are donated. When relatives decide to donate an organ from their deceased, it is known as a cadaver donation. Thus, organ donation can occur in two ways: deceased and living. Deceased donors are those patients who die due to brain bleeding or injury and stroke; the causes of the death should first result in brain death. Living organ donation occurs when an individual donates one of their multiple organs, such as the kidney (Deshmukh & Baheti, 2020).

The donation of organs and tissues is helpful to individuals suffering from terminal illnesses and extensive injuries. For instance, heart failure patients can be saved through a heart transplant. Individuals with lung cancers require lung transplants. When one’s kidneys fail, a kidney transplant becomes necessary (Sulania, Sachdeva, & Jha, 2016). Liver failure can be treated through a liver transplant. Diabetes can be treated through a pancreas transplant, while corneal transplants treat corneal blindness. Skin transplants are important for patients with severe burns, while heart valve transplants are critical for the treatment of diseases that impair the heart valve (Deshmukh & Baheti, 2020). Thus, donation of organs and subsequent transplantation are lifesaving medical interventions that benefit terminally ill patients and their families.

Organ donation fills a critical gap in health care as patients with irreversible conditions receive healthy organs from family members and deceased donors. Various illnesses such as cancer, heart failure, cystic fibrosis, lung illnesses, and polycystic kidney disease weaken vital organs, leading to dysfunction. Other infections, such as hepatitis, impair the organs’ functionality. Conditions such as diabetes and heart disease also impair the organs’ capability to function properly. In such cases, the patient needs urgent transplantation of the affected organs to restore the dignity and normalcy associated with normal living (Deshmukh & Baheti, 2020). The lives of such patients become dependent on the availability of the required organs. Lack of organ transplantation is likely to result in the death of the individual.

Harvesting and transplanting of organs are processes that involve different individuals with varying expertise. Prior to transplanting, the recipient must undergo tests to collect data regarding critical aspects that help physicians and surgeons determine the right donors. The patient receives all the information from a transplant center. This information is transferred to the team prior to the surgery. It is also important to match the recipients to donors. Surgeons carry out the actual transplant; pharmacists provide prescribed medication; social workers provide emotional support to the family members through counseling, while the dietitians guide the patients on nutrition. Since the process requires vast financial resources, the financial counselors assist the clients in accessing funding from various governmental organizations, psychologists, and psychiatrists to ensure that the patient retains a good mental state. Anesthetics are administered and managed while the surgery takes place (Deshmukh & Baheti, 2020). The combination of efforts from the team is critical for successful transplantation.

Ethical Issues

Undoubtedly, organ donation and transplant are among the most remarkable medical advancements. However, the practice is associated with numerous ethical dilemmas. Among these questions are issues related to the waiting list and period. The current shortage of donors in the world increases the ever-growing demand for tissues and organs. The world’s population is aging, and the incidences of diseases such as diabetes are increasing. The demand for donor organs is most prominent in first world countries. Most living donors are found in developing countries. According to HRSA (2020), at least 85 percent of the organs that are transplanted in developed countries come from third-world nations. The developed nations only provide 1 to 25 percent of living organ donations. The difference is caused by the varying cultures and beliefs about life and death. Thus, the developing nations register reduced cadaveric donations. Clearly, organ donation does not exist in a vacuum due to the cultures, beliefs, and perspectives of both donors and recipients.

The ever-growing gap in demand that supply cannot fulfill has opened up a loophole for the illegal harvesting of organs. By September 2020, there were at least 109,000 individuals on the national waiting list. In 2019, only 39,718 transplants were successfully performed. At least 17 people die daily as they wait for their turn. While up to 90 percent of US adults support organ donation, only 60 percent have registered as donors (HRSA, 2020).

Diagram 1: Comparison of transplants and the waiting list

Source: (HRSA, 2020)

One individual can donate up to eight organs, which would save more than one life (HRSA, 2020). The lack of sufficient organs opens up a gap for the black market, where individuals illegally harvest and traffic these organs. As shown in the diagram, the needed and transplanted organs do not match. The demand exceeds supply. Illegal and unethical practices are made easy by advanced communication. At least 10 percent of global transplants occur in the black market. The most common locations of transplant tourism include China, India, the Philippines, and Pakistan (Robson, Razack, & Dublin, 2010). However, all these nations are formulating laws and policies that are intended to regulate organ donation and transplanting.

In a legal environment, the main ethical issues that arise include breach of physician-doctor trust, conflict of interest, and human dignity. These aspects highlight the possibility of a lack of written consent. In other cases, the issue of brain death raises questions regarding the possibility of hastening the donors’ death to provide organs to recipients. Furthermore, doctors highlight that waiting for a complete death of the brain could render the organs unusable. However, various methods can be used to confirm brain death. These include electroencephalography, selective cerebral angiography, and isotope examinations (Mahillo, Bernabe, Vega, Coll, & Dominguez-Gil, 2018). In addition, the period between brain death and organ harvesting remains controversial. Luckily, patient autonomy is critical and useful in such cases as patients reserve the right to dictate their dying. Patients can make informed decisions, decline additional medical therapy, and commit their organs for donation regardless of the circumstances at death.

Finally, the question of cost arises due to the financial resources that are associated with the surgery. The cost of transplanting organs causes one to question whether the rich patients/recipients receive first priority. To resolve this issue, a National Transplant Fund in Malaysia was set up to determine organ transplantation based on need (Robson, Razack, & Dublin, 2010). In the United States of America, Congress passed the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network and the National Organ Transplant Act in 1984. Both legislations guide the allocation of organs to registered patients in need of organs. Body organs from the deceased are national resources. Thus, their allocation must be done fairly and equitably. The legislation also prohibits payments made for acquiring these organs. The country’s legislators, through the two legislations, advocate for the use of the priority method. Thus, a patient who needs an organ transplant must be on the waiting list. After organs are procured, all patients who are found to be compatible are ranked based on specific priority rules leading to successful transplanting once the patient accepts the organ. Due to the short shelf life of organs, once they are procured, they are offered to patients immediately after harvesting. For instance, kidneys cannot be used after 48 hours (Bertsimas, Farias, & Trichakis, 2020).  This implies that there is only a registry that details the available organs, which are then offered to patients immediately.

Conclusion

Organ donation is an advanced medical surgery that saves lives. However, the varying beliefs, cultures, and perspectives of healthcare providers, patients, donors, and relatives introduce a number of ethical concerns. Most living donors are found in developing countries. The developed countries are significant recipients of these organs. Due to the large gap between available organs and the registered recipients, the black market thrives through transplant tourism. Human trafficking and other inhuman activities support this illegal trade. However, the governments of different nations have put in place legislation that should prohibit or reduce transplant tourism. In addition, these legislations promote equitable allocation of organs. At the same time, doctors and physicians are obliged to respect the patient’s autonomy and encourage each to make independent decisions that retain the ethics of organ donation as a medical practice that saves lives.

References

Abouna, G. M. (2003). Ethical Issues in Organ Transplantation. Med Princ Pract., 12(1), 54-69.

Bertsimas, D., Farias, V. F., & Trichakis, N. (2020). Fairness, Efficiency and Flexibility in Organ Allocation for Kidney Transplantation. Operations Research, 61(1).

Deshmukh, C. D., & Baheti, A. M. (2020). Need, Process, and Importance of Organ Transplantation. Asian Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 6(2), 126-131.

HRSA. (2020). Organ Donation Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.organdonor.gov/statistics-stories/statistics.html

Mahillo, B., Bernabe, E., Vega, R., Coll, E., & Dominguez-Gil, B. (2018). Methods Used to Determine Brain Death Diagnosis Among Actual Organ Donors in Spain. Transplanattion, 102(s61).

Robson, N., Razack, A. H., & Dublin, N. (2010). Organ Transplants: Ethical, Social, and Religious Issues in a Multicultural Society. SSRN Electronic Journal, 22(3), 271-278.

Sulania, A., Sachdeva, S., & Jha, D. (2016). Organ Donation and Transplantation: An Updated Overview. MAMC Journal of Medical Sciences, 2(1), 18-27.

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Goal

Choose a trend or phenomenon related to the sale, trade, or donation of human organs. The trend or phenomenon should have a definable set of causes and effects. Write a 1,500–1,750-word argument using five to seven academic resources that persuade an audience to accept your explanation of the causes and effects of your chosen trend or phenomenon related to the sale, trade, or donation of human organs.

Cause and Effect Essay- A trend or Phenomenon Related to the Sale, Trade or Donation of Human Organs

 Directions

Imagine your issue either as a puzzle or as a disagreement. If your issue is like a puzzle that needs to be put together, your task will be to create a convincing case for an audience that does not have an answer to your cause-and-effect question already in mind. If your issue is like a disagreement that needs to be resolved, your argument must be overtly persuasive because your goal will be to change your audience’s views.

Be sure to examine alternative hypotheses or opposing views and explain your reasons for rejecting them.

This essay is NOT a CASUAL essay. Instead, it is a cause-and-effect essay. A cause-and-effect essay explains the causes and effects of a trend or phenomenon involving the sale, trade, or donation of human organs.