"Living apart together": moral frictions between two coexisting organ transplantation schemes

Cadaveric transplantation and living transplantation exist side by side. Both practices help to alleviate organ need. They provide us with two separate moral schemes. Is it rational to keep them apart? The cadaveric system is organised along strict, impartial lines, while the living system is inherently partial and local. The ethical justification for this partial scheme seems to be that it merely supplements the cadaveric scheme: partial transplants do not come at the expense of cadaveric impartiality, but in fact significantly reduce the waiting time for patients on the list for a cadaveric transplant. This seemingly peaceful coexistence is challenged by new initiatives, among them living donation list exchange, and also the LifeSharers initiative, leading to practices that undermine cadaveric impartiality. Should we bemoan this fact, or should we move on towards a new balance in the relationship between cadaveric and living transplantation practices, towards a new moral weighing of impartial and partial values? I argue, against the background of a rapid growth of living donations, that we have good, ethical reasons--not only utilitarian ones--for giving the value of partiality a more prominent place in our policies.     

Proceeding with clinical trials of animal to human organ transplantation: a way out of the dilemma

The transplantation of porcine organs to humans could in the future be a solution to the worldwide organ shortage, but is to date still highly experimental. Further research on the potential effects of crossing the species barrier is essential before clinical application is acceptable. However, many crucial questions on efficacy and safety will ultimately only be answered by well designed and controlled solid organ xenotransplantation trials on humans. This paper is concerned with the question under which conditions, given the risks involved and the ethical issues raised, such clinical trials should be resumed. An alternative means of overcoming the safety and ethical issues is suggested: willed body donation for scientific research in the case of permanent vegetative status. This paper argues that conducting trials on such bodies with prior consent is preferable to the use of human subjects without lack of brain function.     

辅助生殖技术常见的伦理问题及管理

随着辅助生殖技术的广泛应用,由此引发的伦理问题日益增多。因涉及到卵子、精子及胚胎,故辅助生殖技术需要更加注重生命伦理道德及法律行为。针对辅助生殖技术中常见的伦理问题:精子捐赠、卵母细胞捐赠、冻存胚胎在夫妻离异或死亡情况下的处理、高龄、代孕及多胎妊娠与减胎的伦理冲突等问题进行讨论,寻求从法律保障、规范管理、伦理监督、行业自律4个方面全面解决这些问题, 促进我国辅助生殖技术的健康有序发展,使辅助生殖技术的研究和应用惠及民生。     

Informed consent: what does it mean?

The editorial in the September 1982 issue of this journal and many articles before and since have addressed the problem of informed consent. Is it possible? Is it a useful concept? Is there anything new to be said about it? In this article the basic rationale of the rule (patient autonomy) is explained and the extent of the rule explored. Various exceptions have been offered by the law and an attempt is made to catalogue the chief of these. A number of specially vulnerable groups are then identified, the most important, and vexed, being children. How can informed consent be secured in the case of young patients? Finally, a few problems are mentioned in an attempt to get this subject back to reality. The appeal to the principle primum non nocere may be medical paternalism in disguise. Informed consent is the competing principle that reminds us of the primacy of human autonomy. A pointer is given to the future: even the use of sound recordings to explain medical procedures and to activate informed consent so that it may become a reality and not just a lawyer's myth, should be considered.     

Are pseudo-patient studies justified?

Pseudo-patient studies are studies in which a medical sociologist or anthropologist masquerades as a patient. Medical treatment is sought without revealing that the ''patient'' is really a covert research worker. When access has thus been gained to a medical setting--typically a hospital ward--social interaction between medical staff and patients is then observed over a period of days or weeks. Important studies have been carried out in this way of psychiatric treatment and of the care of the terminally-ill. Is the use of the method justified? What ethical problems does its use raise? How do the undoubted advantages of the approach compare with the clear drawbacks and objections which can be made to its use?     

Communication strategies for organ donation

A country, state or hospital may have the latest medical technology and infrastructure as well as qualified professionals for organ transplantation, but unless there is an adequate donor population the waiting lists for transplants will continue to be long and for some patients, hopeless. Public and professional awareness programmes are key factor in the donation process. Social education that explains the life-saving benefits of organ transplantation, the enormous need for organ donation, the concept of brain death and religious teachings related to these issues is vital for creating a conducive environment for the organ transplant co-ordinator or physician soliciting the donation. The education of hospital medical, nursing and administrative personnel is also essential to both miximise opportunities for donation, as well as to prevent loss of potential organs after donor consent. Other target populations are medical examiners or coroners, and police personnel under whose jurisdiction the donations occur, as their co-operation and guidance is necessary for meeting statutory requirements. The involvement of government officials and politicians is also valuable, as their active intervention is essential for the introduction and amendment of rules and laws to promote the donation and transplantation of organs. The present paper describes communication strategies for the development of an efficient education plan that will provide information about organ transplantation, explain the desired outcome, address potential queries, misconceptions or obstacles, and identify potential sources of support.     

The ethics of eating a drug-company donut.

How does a physician make medical decisions? Is medical ethics a field that shifts according to the views of individual doctors? A physician who recently completed his residency muses on some of the ethical decision making he witnessed during his training.     

Normative consent and organ donation: a vindication

In an earlier article, I argued that David Estlund's notion of 'normative consent' could provide justification for an opt-out system of organ donation that does not involve presumptions about the deceased donor's consent. Where it would be wrong of someone to refuse their consent, then the fact that they have not actually given it is irrelevant, though an explicit denial of consent (as in opting out) may still be binding. My argument has recently been criticised by Potts et al, who argue that such a policy would involve taking organs from people whose organs should not be taken and would be a recipe for totalitarianism. The present response seeks to rebut both the ethical and political objections. I argue that people can indeed be under a moral obligation to donate their organs, even if they are not technically dead at the time and their donation does not save anyone else's life. Moreover, I argue that an opt-out system-unlike mandatory donation-is not totalitarian because it preserves the right of individuals to act morally wrongly, by opting out when they have no good moral reason to do so. The policy I propose is neither immoral nor totalitarian.     

Is cytotoxic chemotherapy for lymphoma currently feasible for patients in Malawi? A debate

There is currently no systematic provision for chemotherapy of adult patients with cancer in Malawi. Is the introduction of such a service now feasible in Malawi, and should an individual patient with potentially treatable disease be given chemotherapy in the absence of such a service? The technical, economic and moral issues are discussed here in the form of a debate.     

The search for organs: halachic perspectives on altruistic giving and the selling of organs

Altruistic donation of organs from living donors is widely accepted as a virtue and even encouraged as a duty. Selling organs, on the other hand, is highly controversial and banned in most countries. What is the Jewish legal (halachic) position on these issues? In this review it is explained that altruistic donation is praiseworthy but in no way obligatory. Selling organs is a subject of rabbinic dispute among contemporary authorities.     

Theological reflections on donation after circulatory death: the wisdom of Paul Ramsey and Moshe Feinstein

Due to the worldwide shortage of organs for transplantation, there has been an increased use of organs obtained after circulatory death alone. A protocol for this procedure has recently been approved by a major transplant consortium. This development raises serious moral and ethical concerns. Two renowned theologians of the previous generation, Paul Ramsey and Moshe Feinstein, wrote extensively on the ethical issues relating to transplantation, and their work has much relevance to current moral dilemmas. Their writings relating to definition of death, organ transplantation and the care of the terminally ill are briefly presented, and their potential application to the moral problem of organ donation after circulatory death is discussed.     

Core and comprehensive health care services: 3. Ethical issues.

The CMA's Working Group on Core and Comprehensive Health Care Services recognizes ethics to be one of the three key factors in determining which services should be publicly funded. The role of ethics is to identify and make explicit the principles and values, at individual and societal levels, that lie behind judgements and positions. Two types of ethical issues are addressed: one deals with the criteria for these services and the other with the process to be followed. The five ethical criteria discussed are fairness, age, lifestyle, the identifiable versus the statistical patient, and futility. An ethical process incorporates appropriate roles for the public physicians and payers (government) and accountability of all participants. A provided checklist for determining a fair process asks such questions as Do potential users of a service, its providers and the public have an adequate say in the decision about whether the service should be publicly funded? Are the reasons for the decision communicated to those affected by it? and is the service being denied to potential users on the basis of unfair discrimination or lifestyle?     

颈动脉内膜切除术在“真实世界”的争议与思考

颈动脉内膜切除术(CEA)是治疗颈动脉狭窄、预防脑卒中的“金标准”,国外已相对成熟,国内虽起步晚,但发展迅速.笔者在CEA的推广过程中,发现很多同道虽然可基本掌握手术技巧,但在概念理解、术式选择、技术理念、并发症防治等方面与国际先进水平仍存差距.很多同道在实际工作中仍在纠结予以下问题:CEA是切斑块还是切内膜？如何切除？切除的部位？切除到何种程度？是否需加做血管裁剪和吻合口成形？本文针对CEA在“真实世界”中的四则争议——概念存疑、术式纠结、理念差异和技术困惑——进行概括并提出个人思考,同时与各位读者分享本领域的最新进展.     

Non-heart beating organ donation: old procurement strategy--new ethical problems

The imbalance between supply of organs for transplantation and demand for them is widening. Although the current international drive to re-establish procurement via non-heart beating organ donation/donor (NHBOD) is founded therefore on necessity, the process may constitute a desirable outcome for patient and family when progression to brain stem death (BSD) does not occur and conventional organ retrieval from the beating heart donor is thereby prevented. The literature accounts of this practice, however, raise concerns that risk jeopardising professional and public confidence in the broader transplant programme. This article focuses on these clinical, ethical, and legal issues in the context of other approaches aimed at increasing donor numbers. The feasibility of introducing such an initiative will hinge on the ability to reassure patients, families, attendant staff, professional bodies, the wider public, law enforcement agencies, and the media that practitioners are working within explicit guidelines which are both ethically and legally defensible.     

活体器官买卖伦理分析与对策研究

活体器官买卖之所以存在,主要是因为供需差异的催生、立法监察的疏视和经济效益的默许。由此造成的伦理问题是多元的,突出表现为对生命尊严的践踏、对生命质量的伤害、医疗公正的背离和医者仁爱的缺失;为了有效遏制活体器官买卖、促进活体器官移植良性发展,规范器官来源、严格立法监督、加强伦理审查是亟待实施的有力举措。     

National recommendations for donation after cardiocirculatory death in Canada: Donation after cardiocirculatory death in Canada

These recommendations are the result of a national, multidisciplinary, year-long process to discuss whether and how to proceed with organ donation after cardiocirculatory death (DCD) in Canada. A national forum was held in February 2005 to discuss and develop recommendations on the principles, procedures and practice related to DCD, including ethical and legal considerations. At the forum's conclusion, a strong majority of participants supported proceeding with DCD programs in Canada. The forum also recognized the need to formulate and emphasize core values to guide the development of programs and protocols based on the medical, ethical and legal framework established at this meeting.

Although end-of-life care should routinely include the opportunity to donate organs and tissues, the duty of care toward dying patients and their families remains the dominant priority of health care teams. The complexity and profound implications of death are recognized and should be respected, along with differing personal, ethnocultural and religious perspectives on death and donation. Decisions around withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies, management of the dying process and the determination of death by cardiocirculatory criteria should be separate from and independent of donation and transplant processes.

The recommendations in this report are intended to guide individual programs, regional health authorities and jurisdictions in the development of DCD protocols. Programs will develop based on local leadership and advance planning that includes education and engagement of stakeholders, mechanisms to assure safety and quality and public information. We recommend that programs begin with controlled DCD within the intensive care unit where (after a consensual decision to withdraw life-sustaining therapy) death is anticipated, but has not yet occurred, and unhurried consent discussions can be held. Uncontrolled donation (where death has occurred after unanticipated cardiac arrest) should only be considered after a controlled DCD program is well established. Although we recommend that programs commence with kidney donation, regional transplant expertise may guide the inclusion of other organs. The impact of DCD, including pre-and post-mortem interventions, on donor family experiences, organ availability, graft function and recipient survival should be carefully documented and studied.

     

关于医疗保健制度改革公正性的思考

在我国现行医疗保健制度中存在许多影响和谐社会建设的矛盾和问题,为解决这些矛盾和问题必须进行医疗保健制度的改革。从医疗保健制度改革要以社会公正为目标、医疗保健制度改革的公正原则,以及医疗保健制度改革和如何实现社会公正的目标三个方面来讨论医疗保健制度改革的公正性问题。     

反对活体器官移植的伦理论证

针对活体器官移植在我国有日渐增加的趋势，旨在通过活体器官移植的伦理依据的分析，以及考查反对活体器官移植的论证，提出以鼓励活体器官捐赠来增加器官的来源。是一种本束倒置的做法。弥补器官供应的缺口。关键在于合理地利用尸体器官。这就需要对现有的器官移植伦理框架进行调整，构建新的框架。     

Organ donations should not be restricted to relatives.

Should we remove whole organs from living donors only in the case where they are genetically related to the intended recipients of such organs? The practice in a majority of European nations is to apply such a restriction. Yet this restriction obviously limits the availability of already scarce donor organs, and curtails the opportunities for altruistic action on the part of those who, in any given case, are not genetically related to the recipient. The author argues that we have a duty to maximise procurement of organs, and that we should respect the ''genetic relative'' restriction only in response to compelling moral reasons. The author considers the principal objections to non-related donation and shows them to be misdirected. He concludes that non-related donation should be welcomed where clinically appropriate and truly voluntary.