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 arent 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.