Donors: Organ Transplantation Essays

Submitted By jonez123
Words: 1223
Pages: 5

Devotion to the welfare of others Is money truly the root of evil? In 1954 the first successful organ transplant (kidney) was performed. The need for organ donation continues to grow, but unfortunately the demand drastically outweighs the supply of willing participants. Currently, 110,305 candidates are on the waiting list for some form of organ transplantation and only 20% of Americans are registered donors (United Network for Organ Sharing). Twenty percent participation in any program equates to failure, especially when human life is the price for the lack of participation by the American public. Although there can be no “price tag” put on an individuals life, the current altruistic system continually fails to provide a realistic solution to the thousands of Americans dying annually waiting for organ transplantation. In order to increase the number of organ donations these donors should be compensated with monetary incentives. Tissue and organ donation is a process that allows an individual to donate their vital organs such as, liver, kidney, heart, lungs, bones, veins, skin, and corneas. Organ donation does not simply entail walking up to a hospital and deciding to donate your tissue/organ. There are requirements that include matching the blood type, size of the organ needed, age, location of the donor to the recipient, and the degree of immune- system match between donor and recipient (UNOS.com). Not only is finding enough people to donate organs difficult but finding a match the body does not reject, poses issues as well. The problem of finding a comparable donor amongst minorities calls for greater concern because minorities are three times more likely to suffer from end-stage renal disease than Caucasians (UNOS.com). So the pool of registered donors shrinks tremendously when the recipient is a minority. Facing the issue of needing a tissue donation seems like dealing with an unexpected pregnancy, both occur daily, can effect your life drastically, and can happen to people of all facets of life. Many of the folks that oppose organ transplantation are not informed on how the donation process works, possess strong religious beliefs or have no reason for not wanting to support tissue donation. The first question people have to answer is why not donating your tissue/organs? As a Christian man, father, son, brother, and husband the question to consent or not to consent for organ transplantation left me with internal conflict. After becoming informed about the process of organ donation, the notion of being left on an emergency room bed with tissue donation enthusiast pulling the plug on my survival to save some rich guy has faded. In reality, tissue transplantation surgeons are not summoned until the body has loss life, and handle the remands with precision so that the body may be presented at the funeral (Karen Fanning p5). Also, the process of transplantation is not based on financial clout, each recipient has to wait on the list and meet the requirements mentioned in the beginning of the paragraph. Even though a large portion of the American public supports organ transplantation only very few are willing to compromise their personal beliefs to allow compensation for organ donation. Many Americans would like to believe that in their time of need a perfect stranger would offer to help them. Eighty five percent of Americans approve of organ transplantation and large amounts of people volunteer their time and money to ensure the preservation of life. Compensation for tissue transplantation puts a “price tag” on life and has yet to prove that Americans will increase donation registration if paid for their organs. A survey taken by the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation stated that 91.4% of participants reported that financial incentives would not influence their consent at the time of their family member death (ISHLT). Almost one hundred percent of the people in the survey would not let money