Philosophy 2715F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Conscription, Sentience
10 Apr 2017
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Transplantable organs include heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. Lifesaving treatment for persons w/ end stage organ failure. Shortage of organs: 2155 organ transplants in 2009, 3796 people on the waiting list, 249 deaths. Current policy is opt in and requires informed consent: without consent, your organs cannot be donated. May be overridden in practice by the family: family commonly objects and organs end up not donated, seems to violate patient autonomy. One way to increase the supply in organs would be to prohibit this practice. Most transplants in canada are from living donors. Match making registries: match willing living donor-recipient pairs when there is no match between willing family members: require a lot of coordination but it is working. The requirement for informed consent leads to needless deaths. The obligation to honor prior expressed wishes is not absolute. That is, it may be overturned by countervailing considerations.
