Kidney Transplant and Ethical Issues

Kidney Transplant and Ethical Issues Kidney transplant is necessary when a diseased person fails to adequately perform necessary functions to support a patient. The transplant requires a kidney donor – live donor or a cadaver.

Aside from the medical advances, there are some critical ethical issues that surface in the sphere of organ donation include such as – issues of procurement; issues of allocation; and issues of affordability.

The demand for cadaver or live-donor organs is far in excess of the supply – therefore every time a kidney transplant is necessitated one must face the question of from where should the organ be procured? The number of donors available – both cadaver and live-donors – are far fewer than required.

In most cases for cadaver donations, the organs are lost due to a number of factors. Failure to recognize criteria for brain death, emotional issues, non-cooperation of family members and various others. Thus, we see that procurement is not an easy nor is it a straightforward system.

Given that donors have their own valid reasons to withhold consent, even those expressing consent aren’t always harvested for procedural reasons.

For the allocation of organs, there is currently no fool-proof mechanism that will ensures a fair chance of survival to everyone. There is an arbitrary and subjective norms to understand and apply the issues of governing ‘emergency,’ ‘necessity,’ and ‘immediacy.’ Strictly speaking, the recipient of the transplant should accrue a greater benefit when compared to others but arriving at this judgement is easier said than done.

The final ethical issue surrounding the organ donation is the question of affordability.

Procedures to transplant an organ are expensive and can be cost prohibitive. While the upper sections of the society can afford them often this option remains out of the reach of those relatively poor. Should a recipient or a diseased patient be disallowed a transplant for the want of money? Certainly, our modern, civilized states and government should be able to solve this ethical dilemma.

However, there is no fixed formula or methodology to arrive at a consensual agreement. Those with personal affordability might feel rightfully aggrieved for being denied a transplant despite having the resources.

Although medical science has helped us find successful solution to the complex scientific barrier there are ethical conundrums which need a more humane approach.