Surgical Transplant

The primary ethical issue associated with transplanted is the extreme shortage of available donors. Nearly 20,000 people die in the United States each year who would have been suitable organ donors. But only about 3,000 of these organs are ever donated and harvested. Questions surrounding the limited supply of donor organs include who should get the donor. For example, should the organ go to someone who is poor and on welfare or someone who can afford to pay for the operation. There is also concern over buying organs from people before they have died or from their families after the person has died. Some organs, like kidneys, corneas, bones, and bone marrow could even be bought and removed before death since they would not fatally harm the donor if removed.

Another ethical issue surrounding transplantation is the high costs associated with obtaining and transplanting an organ. Some transplant procedures can cost more than $200,000. Since most people cannot afford such operations, the burden falls on society in the form of higher insurance premiums and government subsidies. Even after the surgery is over, it can cost tens of thousands of dollars each year to keep the person alive because of the high cost of antirejection drugs.

Despite the difficulty of obtaining organs, the high costs, and the many ethical concerns, transplantation will continue to thrive since it is the only hope for many terminally ill patients. Society's mandate is to develop ethical regulations to ensure that growing demands are met fairly and humanely.