“Everyday ten minutes, someone is added to the national waiting list.” “On average 20 people die each day while waiting for a transplant.” There are many people who die each day. They’re put on waiting lists but there are so many people ahead of them that an individual might never get the chance of a transplant. That could all change with xenotransplantation. As soon as doctors find a way to do it, there could be so many lives saved. Xenotransplantation is a big step to saving lives. It could help patients in need everyday. Doctors should transplant pigs’ organs into human bodies. Transplanting pigs’ organs can benefit by saving lives. There are many ways that transplanting can save lives. Such as transplanting an organ in an instant. “If transplantation could be carried out as soon as the patient experiences irreversible organ failure, then immediate transplantation would almost certainly result in significantly improved survival.” If there were a need an organ to be transplanted right away, it would be possible. There is an unlimited amount of pig organs that could be pulled right away for a procedure. The patient in need wouldn’t need to wait a very long time because the organs are easily accessible. Xenotransplantation could become one of the biggest ways to save lives. …show more content…
Money takes a big part in transplantation. People will be drawn to the fact that xenotransplantation will cost less than a human transplant. “Eventually, xenotransplantation has the potential to bring significant cost savings. Thus, the existing organizations for procurement and sharing of organs from deceased donors. The immediate access to pig organs will also result in savings…” Usually to transplant human organs to another human is very expensive. But with pigs’ organs it would cost a reasonable amount. One of the biggest benefits of xenotransplantation is saving
First of all, we can assess issues concerning the donor. For example, is it ever ethically acceptable to weaken one person’s body to benefit another? It has to be said that the practiced procedures are not conducted in the safest of ways, which can lead to complications for both donors and recipients (Delmonico 1416). There are also questions concerning of informed consent: involved donors are not always properly informed about the procedure and are certainly not always competent to the point of fully grasping the situation (Greenberg 240). Moral dilemmas arise for the organ recipient as well. For instance, how is it morally justifiable to seek and purchase organs in foreign countries? Is it morally acceptable to put oneself in a dangerous situation in order to receive a new organ? Some serious safety issues are neglected in such transactions since the procedures sometimes take place in unregulated clinics (Shimazono 959). There is also the concept of right to health involved in this case (Loriggio). Does someone’s right to health have more value than someone else’s? Does having more money than someone else put your rights above theirs? All of these questions have critical consequences when put into the context of transplant tourism and the foreign organ trade. The answers to these questions are all taken into account when answering if it is morally justifiable to purchase
Thesis: I will explain the history of organ transplants, starting with ancient ideas before modern science until the 21st century.
The progression of modern science and technology has often challenged old, time-worn notions. Nowhere does this seem truer than in biology and medicine, as these fields have changed drastically in recent decades and also relate so closely to the actual substance of how people live. One such development is what is called xenotrans-plantation or the transplantation of organs or cells across species—particularly notable when from a non-human species into a human. The very fact that the procedure is possible is telling as regards the inherently ephemeral nature of the distinction of humans from other animals. It may be useful to first outline how xenotransplantation works, however.
All views and opinions should be taken into consideration when looking at areas such as ethics and morality. The topic of organ and tissue transplantation carries many considerations that can sway an individual whether to allow this practice to occur. A major issue that many consider is if this process is considered to be playing against fate and god. Society sometimes feels that taking and receiving organs from others is not acceptable because you are going against the life that is already determined along with taking parts from someone else that is not yours. Genetic engineering of animals and xenotransplantation carry many issues that include animal welfare along with medical considerations. Individuals feel that putting animals through this process just for human benefit is not acceptable and is affecting the way animals live. Others feel that using animal body parts on humans goes against morality completely since it is not natural in any shape or form (Elisabeth H. Ormandy 544). Even though some agree with a black market for organ sales, most are against this idea completely. It has been claimed that paying for organs would be ineffective, that payment would be immoral because it involves the sale of body parts and that the main donors would be the desperate poor, who could come to regret their decision (Elias). Opinions on morals and ethics are always affected when other fluctuating factors are tacked on to the
In the world we’re living in today, many kinds of diseases, infections, and viruses are continuously arising. At the same time, scientists are untiringly researching about how we can prevent or cure them. Unfortunately, millions of people have been affected and sick that some of their organs fail that results to the need of organ replacement. Many people have died because no organs have been available to provide the need of organ replacements. The shortage of organ replacement has been a bioethical issue since then and it seems like no solution has been available. However, due to the studies scientists have been conducting, they found the most possible answer to this issue – Xenotransplantation. It hasn’t become very popular all over the
In 1954, the first organ transplant was conducted successfully in the United States. (Clemmons, 2009) Nowadays, the technology of organ transplant has greatly advanced and operations are carried out every day around the world. According to current system, organ sales are strictly prohibited in the United States. (Clemmons, 2009) However, the donor waiting list in the United States has doubled in the last decade and the average waiting time for a kidney is also increasing. (Clemmons, 2009) In the year 2007, over 70,000 patients were on the waiting list for a kidney and nearly 4500 of them died during the waiting period. In contrast to the increasing demand for kidney, organ donation has been in a decrease. (Wolfe, Merion, Roys, & Port, 2009) Even the government puts in great effot to increase donation incentives, the gap between supply and demand of organs still widens. In addition, the technology of therapeutic cloning is still not mature and many obstacles are met by scientists. (Clemmons, 2009) Hence, it is clear that a government regulated kidney market with clear legislation and quality control is the best solution to solve the kidney shortage problem since it improves the lives of both vendors and patients.
The issues surrounding the Baby Fae case raised some important questions concerning medical ethics. Questions were raised regarding human experimentation (especially experimentation in children), risk/benefit ratio, the quality of informed consent, and surrogate decision-making. Primarily, this case showed that new guidelines were needed to regulate radical procedures that offer little hope and high notoriety and recognition of the physician performing them. Dr. Bailey had been doing extensive research for years on xenografts, or cross-species transplantations, yet none of his animal recipients had survived over 6 months.16 His research was neither governmentally funded nor available for peer-review, and Dr. Bailey was even warned by colleagues that his procedure was not ready for human patients. Previous primate xenografts had been tried with humans, but all had been rapidly rejected.
In America, there are currently 122,198 candidates on the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) waiting list (“OPTN”). Due to a lack of available organ donors, around 18 waiting list candidates will die every day (“OPTN”). This has prompted the development and investigation of xenotransplantation—the transplantation of animal tissue and organs to potential human candidates. Currently in its early phases of development and study, xenotransplantation is controversial for its high failure rate, with only a few cases successful. This is attributed to the human immune system rejecting those animal donated organs, thereby potentially causing immediate death to the human candidate. On the one hand, pre-clinical trials have broadened the understanding of the human immune system, as well as furthered xenotransplantation research. However, because xenotransplantation has achieved little success, opponents of the procedure argue that it is unethical to continue its practice. It is also important to note that trials often use baboons in place of humans, which presents several variables to be examined before further human trials can begin. Moreover, the potential acquisition of zoonotic infection is a serious risk that cannot be fully determined without the use of human subjects. Thus, not only will xenotransplantation require more extensive study, it will also require hundreds of animal lives, all in an effort to create nothing more than a last resort.
Currently more than 118,617 men, women, and children are waiting for a transplant. With this high demand of organ transplants there is a need of supply. According to the OPTN Annual report of 2008, the median national waiting time for a heart transplant is 113 days, 141 days for lungs, 361 days for livers, 1219 days for kidneys, 260 days for pancreas, 159 days for any part of the intestine. With this world of diseases and conditions, we are in desperate desideratum of organs. Organ transplants followed by blood into a donating organ transfusions, are ways medical procedures are helping better the lives of the patients.
Many ethical and social implications arise with xenotransplantation. For example, if some countries allow xenotransplantation and others don’t, there may be a trend towards “xenotourists” – people who travel to get the surgery. They if these people were to contract a disease it could spread and even cause a pandemic. Their country of origin would feel the negative effects so making the decision not to allow this
Organ Transplants: A Brief History (21 February, 2012) Retrieved from History in the Headlines Website: http://www.history.com/news/organ-transplants-a-brief-history
Despite an increased rate in organ transplantation from living donors, the supply and demand of recipients and donors still has not met. In an effort to further encourage and increase the number of organs available for transplant by living donors, the contemplation of an organ market has been brought up into attention (Tong, 2007). While the idea of an organ market system would theoretically improve the number of living organ ...
Organ transplantation is apperceived as one of the most prehending achievements for preserving life in medical history. This procedure provides a means of giving life to patience’s who suffer from terminal organ failure, which requires the participation of individuals; living or deceased, to donate their organs for the more preponderant good of society.
“Transplanting animal organs into humans is feasible.” USA Today. November 1999: 54-55. Gehlsen, Gale M., Ganion, Larry R. and Robert Helfst.
Many patients in hospitals are waiting for transplants and many of them are dying because they are not receiving the needed organs. To solve this problem, scientists have been using embryonic stem cells to produce organs or tissues to repair or replace damaged ones (Human Cloning). Skin for burn victims, brain cells for the brain damaged, hearts, lungs, livers, and kidneys can all be produced. By combining the technology of stem cell research and human cloning, it will be possible to produce the needed tissues and organs for patients in desperate need of a transplant (Human Cloning). The waiting list for transplants will become a lot shorter and a lot less people will have to suffer and die just because they are in great need of a transplant....