Organ Harvesting

Objectives: The students are expected to:

      Demonstrate a basic understanding of issues of justice and rights in organ allocation. 

      Critically assess the criteria for organ transplantation.

      Apply ethical theories to real issues in allocation of transplant organs

Instructions: Answer the following questions. After completing your assignment, save and submit it as a Word document using your first name, last name, and unit number as file name.  For example, John Smith will save his assignment as “John Smith 9”   (“9” stands for Unit 6B). 

To effectively answer the following questions, refer to the lecture, YouTube Video, Zoom live session recording, textbook (if you have one), and other relevant sources. You may skip the first 36 minutes of the YouTubevideo. Watch instead its sections 3 and 4 where you will find a thought-provoking discussion of issues of justice in organ allocation. 

1. Should patients be able to solicit organs from the general public via the internet and other media to find donors for themselves? If so, what would be its advantages and disadvantages?

2. Discuss in your own words the two definitions of death? Why is the discussion of the definition of death important in the context of organ transplantation?

3. If the patient’s heart is still beating but he is brain dead, is that patient still alive? Why or why not? 

4. Discuss and compare the ‘Fair Innings’ account (by Allan Williams) and the ‘Prudential Lifespan’ account (by Norman Daniels) of organ allocation. Which account is more compelling? Why? (Refer to the YouTube video)

5. In your own words, discuss briefly the approaches to organ donation. Which approach to organ donation do you find fair and just? Why?

6. Theresa Ann Campo Pearson was born in Florida in 1992. Baby Theresa had anencephaly. Anencephalic infants are sometimes referred to as “babies without brains.” Baby Theresa’s story is remarkable only because her parents made an unusual request. Knowing that their baby would die soon and could never be conscious, Theresa’s parents volunteered her organs for transplant. They thought her kidneys, liver, heart, lungs, and eyes should go to other children who could benefit from them. Her physicians agreed. Thousands of infants need transplant each year, and there are never enough organs available. But the organs were not taken because Florida law forbids the removal of organs until the donor is dead.

(Adopted from J. Rachels)

A. Having no brain, does baby Theresa satisfy the definition of “brain death?” 

B. Can Theresa be harmed if her organs are “harvested?”