The recent case of kidney-trading have caused much buzz in the media, forums and blogsphere. Here’s a brief of the case from Channel News Asia dated July 12, 2008 titled “Another man charged in kidney-trading case”.
There were various views put forth. Some said it was okay given a free market – willing buyer, willing seller. Let the market decide. Others mentioned that the moral, ethical, social aspects and its consequences have to be examined further before making an opinion. Here were some comments published in MyPaper “organ trading fair, if both sides willing”. Do we see organ transplant to be a process from an act of charity or a trade?
I chanced upon a booklet titled “Organ Donation – A Catholic Perspective”. But I must firstly state that this post is not meant to make a judgement in the light of the recent case. Rather, it is meant to share with readers the various aspects of what precedes an organ transplant to examine from a catholic viewpoint. The booklet was written by Mark Miller (C.S.s.R) and published by Ligouri Publications. Some of the points raised were:-
1. Demand for organs exceed supply. In cases where organs have been freely pledged for donation to a legal and authorised body, organs can only be removed when the donor has died before it is transplanted to a compatible receiver according to the laws of the country.
2. There exists other means where organ transplant takes place outside this mode. Buying and selling of organs where monetary incentives are offered, while the donor is still living. In such cases, those who can afford will stand a higher chance of securing the organ from the donor without adherence to the law. Will this lead to an economic allocation of resources where only those who can pay will stand a better chance of survival in receiving an organ for transplant? Will an organ be treated like a commodity?
3. Medicine deals with people when they are at their most vulnerable state – weak, sick, or dying. Medicine must strive to choose the most ethical pathway towards healing. If altruistic donations of human organs do not meet the demand, other ways must be sought to ethically increase availability.
4. 4 cornerstones of ethical decision making that will help build a sound decision about transplants:
(4a) Good Education – From doctors, nurses, hospital administrators to the patient and their family need to understand the benefits and burden of transplant surgery. A donated organ can save a life but at whose expense? Somebody could be duped, coerced, pressured, offered incentives or even killed to have their organs extracted for the recipient. It’s the manner in which organs are obtained from donors. Post-transplant complications may arise. Has the patient been given adequate information, and made to understand what will life be after post-transplant surgery rather than living a life of regret from depression and ailments common to post-transplant surgery.
(4b) Communication – Has such a topic on organ transplant been discussed by family members instead of that fateful day when one discovers one needs an organ transplant? Time provides a period of discussion, deliberation, communication, reflection rather than leaving such critical decision-making to the last moment which could be made in haste.
(4c) Facing our Mortality – Flight from death is not a good reason for transplant. Choosing to live is a good reason, but only if we have accepted the inevitability of our own death.
(4d) Conscious of Justice – Would you receive an organ if you discover that it has been taken from someone who was killed for it or would you refuse it even if your life is on the line?
If we are to look at organ transplant only from the viewpoint of right or wrong, allowed or disallowed, we might fail to make wise ethical decisions base on all factors involved.
We must not choose what is clearly wrong. However, if we focus only on the choice, we may end up doing what is right for very poor reasons ~ Pope John Paul II
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