MEDI7231 Study Guide - Final Guide: Uptodate, Black Market, Mercedes-Benz 500K
TRANSPLANT TOURISM I (HUMAN RIGHTS CASE)
Moral community
Ethics perspective - all those beings that one holds in moral regard (eg those beings that you need to
think “but is this right” before you do something that could affect them)
Autonomy
Kant
oIt is the capacity to self-legislate in accordance with reason and therefore it is distinctive of
human beings as rational and social animals
o3 versions
To act according to the categorical imperative (“do as you would be done by”)
To respect others as ends and not use them as means
To act as a responsible member of the kingdom of ends (the moral community)
oTaken together, they imply autonomy is not just acting according to your own desires, but
unconstrained by a balanced consideration of your situation as a being-amongst-others (Gillett,
2008)
Hume & Mill
oContemporary version of autonomy that is compatible with selfishness & a characteristic shared
by many creates
oThe capacity to act on needs, wants or wishes – “to do what you want, informed by
instrumental reasoning”
oThis constricts the scope of reason so that it is subject to any desire or disposition that one
happens to endorse at the time one acts
Human rights
A set of beliefs about societal basis of human well-being
Series of non-provable statements about what people need to maintain their human dignity
Apply to individuals because they are human, thus apply to all people around the world
Principally involves the relationships between the state and the individual
Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (do not learn for exam)
1. Human dignity and human rights
2. Benefits and harm
3. Autonomy and individual responsibility
4. Consent
5. Persons without the capacity to consent
6. Respect for human vulnerability and personal integrity
7. Privacy and confidentiality
8. Equality, justice and equity
9. Non-discrimination and non-stigmatization
10. Respect for cultural diversity and pluralism
11. Solidarity and cooperation
12. Social responsibility and health
13. Sharing of benefits
14. Protecting future generations
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15. Protection of the environment, the biosphere and biodiversity
Cases
Pakistan 2017
oSadi Ahmed was held hostage for 3 months by an organ trafficking gang
o“We will remove your kidney and you will receive 300,000 rupees [2,300 pounds]”
oIn October last year, he was 1 of 24 individuals rescued from an organ trafficking gang by police
in Rawalpindi, Pakistan
oThe hostages were imprisoned in a building in an affluent suburb, awaiting the forced removal
of their kidneys
Egypt 2016
oEgyptian authorities arrested 25 people including doctors/ nurses/ professors/ organ buyers/
middlemen suspected of being involved in an international organ trafficking ring … “the largest
international network for trading human organs”
oAuthorities also found ‘millions of dollars & gold bullion’
oIt’s illegal to purchase organs in Egypt, but poverty drives individuals to sell their body parts
oAdministrative Control Authority, a powerful anti-corruption body, claimed the network
targeted was made up of Egyptians & Arabs taking advantage of some citizens’ stuck in difficult
economic conditions – they buy their human organs & sell them for large sums of money
Mexico 2014
oMexican authorities have captured an alleged drug trafficker from the Caballeros Templarios
(Knights Templar) cartel who is being investigated on suspicion of kidnapping and murdering
children for organ harvesting/ investment
oOne of the leaders of a vigilante movement in Michoacán formed to combat the Caballeros
Templarios responded by saying locals had long known that organ trafficking "was part of the
business of these people"
oJosé Manuel Mireles claimed vigilantes he led in Tepalcatepec once stopped a suspicious-looking
truck driving through the area & discovered kidnapped children inside a refrigerated container
(truck had taken a wrong turn on its way to the port city of Lázaro Cárdenas, a hub of cartel
activity)
oMireles said the children were still alive and wrapped in blankets; they were all from the same
school in Mexico City & their parents let them go because they were told it was a beach trip
KOSOVO 2013
o5 men were convicted of involvement in an organ-trafficking ring that performed at least 24
illegal kidney transplants at the Medicus clinic on outskirts of Pristina (capital city) in 2008
oLutfi Dervishi (the clinic’s director) & his son Arban were sentenced to 8 and 7 years,
respectively
oThey’d promised donor victims 12,500pnds each for kidneys that were sold on the blackmarket
for as much as 84,000pnds a time; however, donors often went unpaid & were ‘literally cast
aside at the airport’ (Jonathan Ratel, the lead prosecutor)
Example: organ procurement from executed prisoners in China
Introduction
oSuccessful transplantation depends upon the gift of life bestowed by willing organ donors
and/or their families in the context of informed and voluntary consent – the current shortage
of willing organ donors precipitates the illegal trafficking of organs violating ethical standards
oMost up-to-date Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation report estimates 114,690
solid organ transplants were globally performed in 2012 – WHO estimates 10% was illegal organ
trading which would generate an approximate income between US$600mill to US$1.2bill yearly
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Document Summary
Ethics perspective - all those beings that one holds in moral regard (eg those beings that you need to think but is this right before you do something that could affect them) Kant: it is the capacity to self-legislate in accordance with reason and therefore it is distinctive of human beings as rational and social animals, 3 versions. To act according to the categorical imperative ( do as you would be done by ) To respect others as ends and not use them as means. A set of beliefs about societal basis of human well-being. Series of non-provable statements about what people need to maintain their human dignity. Apply to individuals because they are human, thus apply to all people around the world. Principally involves the relationships between the state and the individual. Universal declaration on bioethics and human rights (do not learn for exam) Protection of the environment, the biosphere and biodiversity.
