Transplantation reviews
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Transplantation reviews · Jul 2008
ReviewResponding to offers of altruistic living unrelated kidney donation by group associations: an ethical analysis.
Members of a religious community presented to our institution and offered to be altruistic unrelated living kidney donors en masse. This situation raised a number of ethical concerns related to the situation specifically and to altruistic unrelated living kidney donation in general. Based on our ethical analysis, we made the following conclusions. ⋯ Appointing a donor's advocate can facilitate donor understanding of the risks, benefits, and alternatives to organ donation and can help discern coercion. Furthermore, an experienced social worker should assess all potential donors and discern if coercion is present; potential donors should be referred to a psychologist or psychiatrist as appropriate. Although concerns regarding allocation were not raised by our specific situation, ethical concerns regarding allocation of kidneys donated by altruistic unrelated kidney donors exist (eg, requesting that such donations be allocated to recipients with specific characteristics).
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Transplantation reviews · Jul 2008
Case ReportsEthical controversies in public solicitations for organs.
The increased shortage of organs for transplantation has led to a widening of the living donor pool and to innovations in how and where people seek living donors. Transplant programs are being asked to reconsider practice in light of new situations. ⋯ The expansion of the media, particularly the Internet, into our everyday lives has offered an additional method for the dissemination of information and requests for organs. This article discusses public solicitations from living kidney donors, examines the ethical issues therein, and makes suggestions as to how transplant teams might consider addressing this issue.