Organ Donation: Dead & Living Donation

Summary

This script explores ethical dilemmas in organ donation, focusing on posthumous and living donors. It raises concerns about medical treatments that might preserve organs at the expense of the dying patient's comfort and questions the true nature of consent, especially when family pressure is involved. The script also addresses the complex issue of children's organ donation and their inability to give informed consent. It sets the stage for a discussion on the morality of selling human organs in the next video, hinting at the economic benefits for all parties except the living donor.

Takeaways

• 💡 The ethical dilemma of treating dying patients with the intent to preserve their organs for donation, rather than for their own benefit, is discussed.
• 🔄 The concept of opting in or out for organ donation is examined, with a focus on the implications of medical treatment aimed at organ preservation.
• 🏥 The potential increase in organ supply through specific medical treatments for patients expected to die soon is highlighted.
• 🚫 Concerns are raised about the use of the dying patient for organ donation, questioning if it constitutes exploitation.
• 🤔 The idea of implementing an opt-in or opt-out system for such medical treatments is suggested to address ethical concerns.
• 🫀 The risks associated with living organ donation, such as surgery and anesthesia, are noted, even though the risk of death is relatively low.
• 🏥 The principle of 'do no harm' in medicine is contrasted with the potential harm to living donors who undergo organ removal without direct health benefit.
• ⚖️ Consent and the absence of coercion are key ethical considerations in living organ donation, especially within familial relationships.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 The ethical complexity of children donating organs is explored, questioning their capacity for informed consent and the potential for exploitation.
• 💼 The economic aspects of organ donation are touched upon, noting that while many benefit financially, living donors typically do not.
• 💵 The proposal to allow the sale of human organs is introduced as a topic for further ethical discussion in subsequent content.

Q & A

What is the ethical issue raised about treating dying patients as potential organ donors?

The ethical issue is that medical treatments could be applied to dying patients to preserve their organs for donation, rather than for the patients' own benefit, which could be seen as using the patients for the benefit of others.

How does the process of dying typically affect organs?

The dying process often ruins organs, making them unsuitable for donation, which is a challenge when considering the potential for organ donation.

What is the potential solution to increase the supply of organs mentioned in the script?

One potential solution mentioned is to use medical treatments like ventilation on patients expected to die soon to keep their organs viable for donation.

Why might treating a dying patient to preserve their organs be considered problematic?

It is problematic because such treatments would not be for the benefit of the patient, potentially going against the principle of medical treatment being for the patient's benefit.

What are the risks associated with living organ donation?

Living organ donation increases the risk to the donor, including surgical risks, anesthesia risks, infection, and potential future harm if the remaining organ fails.

How does the concept of 'do no harm' in medicine relate to living organ donation?

In living organ donation, there is a potential conflict with the 'do no harm' principle because the donor is subjected to risks without receiving any direct health benefit.

What is the ethical concern regarding consent in the context of living organ donation to family members?

The ethical concern is whether the donor is truly consenting without coercion, given potential family pressure and desperation to save a loved one.

What is the issue with children donating organs?

Children are not considered capable of informed consent due to their age and vulnerability to pressure, raising questions about the ethics of their organ donation.

Why might the donation of organs by children be seen as beneficial to the child?

It could be argued that children benefit from donating to a sibling because they gain the value of having a sibling, although this is a complex issue with ethical implications.

What is the current situation regarding the sale of human organs?

Currently, the sale of human organs is not permitted in many places, and the topic is controversial with ethical debates ongoing about whether it should be allowed.

What are the consequentialist reasons for permitting the sale of human organs?

Consequentialist reasons might include saving lives by increasing the supply of organs, although this must be weighed against the ethical implications of commodifying human organs.

Outlines

00:00

🏥 Ethical Considerations in Posthumous Organ Donation

This paragraph discusses the ethical dilemmas associated with medical treatments aimed at preserving organs for donation from deceased individuals. It raises the question of whether such treatments, which are not for the benefit of the dying patient but for potential organ recipients, are ethically justifiable. The speaker suggests that while these treatments could increase the supply of organs, they might also be seen as using the dying patient for the benefit of others. The concept of consent is also touched upon, with the idea of an opt-in or opt-out system being proposed to address these concerns.

05:03

🤔 Ethical Issues in Living Organ Donation

The second paragraph delves into the ethical issues surrounding living organ donations, such as the increased risk to the donor, the potential lack of true consent due to coercion or family pressure, and the complexities of children's organ donations. The speaker highlights the tension between the medical principle of 'do no harm' and the act of donors undergoing surgery without receiving any direct health benefit. Additionally, the paragraph raises concerns about the validity of consent in cases where family members are asked to donate organs, questioning whether the decision is truly voluntary or influenced by external pressures. The discussion also considers the unique case of the Jesus Christians, a group known for donating kidneys to strangers, and whether such actions can be considered truly consensual.

Keywords

💡Ethical issues

Ethical issues refer to the moral dilemmas or concerns that arise in specific situations, such as organ donation. In the video, ethical issues are discussed in the context of medical treatments for deceased donors and the implications for living donors. The script raises questions about the morality of certain practices, such as using medical treatments to preserve organs for donation at the expense of the patient's comfort or consent.

💡Opting in and opting out

Opting in and opting out are terms used to describe the choice individuals make regarding their participation in a particular program or system, such as organ donation. The video script discusses the ethical implications of these choices, particularly in the context of organ donation where opting in or out can significantly affect the availability of organs for those in need.

💡Medical treatments

Medical treatments in this context refer to the interventions and procedures used to maintain or improve health. The video script explores the ethical quandary of applying medical treatments, such as ventilation, to dying patients not for their benefit but to preserve their organs for donation, which deviates from the usual purpose of medical care.

💡Organ donation

Organ donation is the act of giving an organ for transplantation into another person. The video script delves into the ethical considerations of organ donation, including the treatment of potential donors and the risks involved for living donors who donate a part of their organs, such as a kidney or a portion of their liver.

💡Living donors

Living donors are individuals who donate an organ or part of an organ while still alive. The script discusses the ethical issues surrounding living donations, such as the increased health risks for the donor and the potential lack of true consent due to coercion or familial pressure.

💡Consent

Consent in the context of the video refers to the voluntary agreement to a particular action, such as organ donation. The script raises concerns about the validity of consent in organ donation scenarios, especially when it involves family members or groups with strong communal pressures, questioning whether the consent is truly free and informed.

💡Coercion

Coercion is the act of forcing someone to do something against their will, often through threats or pressure. In the video script, coercion is discussed as a factor that could compromise the genuineness of consent in organ donation, particularly when family members are involved or when individuals are part of groups with strong ideologies that encourage organ donation.

💡Deontological ethics

Deontological ethics is an ethical theory that focuses on the inherent rightness or wrongness of actions, rather than their consequences. The video script mentions this theory as a framework for evaluating the ethics of organ donation, suggesting that actions such as selling organs or pressuring individuals to donate might be evaluated based on principles of duty or rights, not just their outcomes.

💡Consequentialist reasons

Consequentialist reasons are ethical considerations based on the outcomes or consequences of actions. The video script uses this concept to discuss the potential benefits of organ donation, such as saving lives, as a moral justification for the practice despite the risks and ethical concerns involved.

💡Selling human organs

Selling human organs refers to the practice of exchanging organs for financial gain. The video script introduces this concept as a topic for further discussion, suggesting that it raises additional ethical questions about the commodification of human body parts and the potential exploitation of vulnerable individuals.

Highlights

Ethical concerns arise when considering medical treatments that preserve organs for donation at the expense of the dying patient.

The concept of opting in or out is crucial for addressing the ethical treatment of potential donors.

Medical interventions to increase organ supply, such as ventilation for the dying, raise questions about the patient's true interests.

The dying process often ruins organs, but treating patients to preserve organs could conflict with their end-of-life wishes.

An opt-in or opt-out system might be proposed to address the ethical dilemma of treating patients for organ preservation.

Living donors face increased risks without receiving any direct health benefits, challenging the medical principle of 'do no harm'.

The risk of death from kidney retrieval, though small, is a significant consideration for living donors.

The balance between the donor's increased risk and the recipient's certain need for an organ is a complex ethical issue.

Consent for organ donation must be given without coercion, a condition that can be difficult to ensure, especially within families.

The pressure to donate to family members may compromise the donor's true consent due to familial obligations.

The case of the Jesus Christians, who encourage kidney donation to strangers, raises questions about the nature of consent in a group setting.

Children's ability to consent to organ donation is limited, leading to ethical debates about their involvement in such decisions.

The benefits to the donor child, such as having a sibling, must be weighed against the risks of organ donation.

The idea of selling human organs is controversial and raises questions about the commodification of body parts.

The potential moral justifications for selling organs include the consequentialist argument of saving lives.

Deontological ethics, which focuses on duty and rights, is another ethical theory that can be applied to the organ sale debate.

Transcripts

there's one more ethical issue i want to

raise with the donation from i should

have said at the beginning from donors

who have died and then we'll talk about

ethical issues for living donors so the

fourth ethical issue that i wanted to

raise we just talked about opting out

and opting in is medically treating

people as potential donors um so

we could increase the supply of organs

by using certain medical treatments on

people expected to die soon for instance

if somebody was

dying we could give them ventilation

so that we could keep their organs safe

because i like like when i said earlier

the dying process itself

ruins the organs most of the times but

if we were to say okay so this person is

an organ donor so we're going to treat

them a certain way to preserve their

organs for donation then there would be

more organs for donation now a problem

with this is those treatments are not

done for the patient and we usually

think all medical treatments are

justified by helping the patient in some

way but this wouldn't be done to

help the patient it would be done for

somebody else and it seems like in this

case would be using the dying patient

for their organs and using them in a way

maybe that

you know giving them treatment that

isn't for them i'm not sure how

problematic that would be

maybe there could be an opt-in or

opt-out system of that as well i feel

like that would be okay uh for me but

maybe other people would feel

differently but that is one of the

issues we could do things medically to a

person to preserve their organs while

when we know that they're dying

but that would be a treatment that

wouldn't be for the person and we

usually think that medic medical

treatment should be for the benefit of

the person

who is dying and it might increase the

you know

keep them alive longer than they want

if they have do not resuscitate orders

and that kind of stuff so it could be

problematic in other ways all right so

now let's talk about living donors so

all of that was about

donating donating organs when somebody

dies but people can live without one of

their kidneys

they can donate part of their liver and

so when we talk about uh living donor

donation typically we're talking about

kidneys

but also people can donate part of their

liver it's possible then to donate

organs while you're still living

so let's talk about that a little bit

the first ethical issue

is that it increases the risk of the

person who donates the organ um donating

an organ puts a donor at increased risk

so there's always

you know risk and surgeries and

undergoing uh general anesthesia uh

there's risk of infection uh there is

risk of possible uh future harm you know

if you don't have a kidney if one your

other kidney fails then that's the only

one that you've had if you've donated

the other one

livers are a little bit different they

can regenerate if you take little parts

of it they can kind of grow back

now the risk of death from kidney

retrieval is about one in three thousand

um so it's it's not a giant risk but the

donor isn't receiving any kind of health

benefit for

uh donating the organ so there is an

increased risk to the donor that they're

undergoing to

to take

that

that

organ now if the tenant of medicine if

the central tenant of medicine is to do

no harm it seems that we're at least

doing a little harm to the donor

if there is

this living donation thing right now

i'm going to say a lot about this that

might overwrite it remember again

there's the claim of the person

who will die without the organ so you've

got the increased risk of the donor one

in 3 000 maybe or something like that

versus the sure risk of the person

receiving

the

donation so

there's that uh issue as well

with living donors they

increase risk and it's not a very

big risk but it is a little bit of a

risk a second ethical issue is consent

so consent involves in part a lack of

coercion right you don't when when you

um

let's say that somebody says give me

your wallet or i will kill you

and then i give them the wallet right

and they say well they freely gave me

their wallet but no i didn't freely give

it because i was doing it under coercion

i didn't want to die i didn't want to be

shot or whatever so i gave them the

wallet so we usually don't say that

we've given consent when there is

coercion now when we donate to a family

member so let's say that a family member

needs a kidney or something like that

can we really say that there isn't a

coercion

there's probably family pressure there's

desperation to save a family member all

of that can seem very coercive so we

have to worry about whether or not a

person is truly consenting when uh they

are given uh when they're

giving a

an organ to a family member because that

maybe they don't want to face the shame

of um

of the the

family from the family or the family

would resent them if they didn't do it

and they would feel that right um so can

we really say that it is consent in that

cases and there's also uh this kind of

strange case there's this group of uh

what are called jesus christians uh

they're kind of an extreme christian

group that encourages their members to

donate a kidney uh their website i was

looking on it uh earlier claims that

more than half of the members of the

jesus christians have donated one of

their kidneys to a complete stranger now

we would worry about that and consent is

this really a rational

consent christian belief that they have

or is it more kind of like a cultish

brainwashing thing is this truly

consenting in this case if over half of

the members have done that is it is it

really without coercion are they really

saying this is what i rationally think i

should do we could question that right

and we can question a lot of times where

people are they being pressured unduly a

lot of times with the family things that

doctors will tell the um the family

member we can tell

the family that you're not a match um if

you want us to

that you're not a good match if you want

to or just kind of finagle the truth a

little bit

so that's what will happen when they

take the

potential donor behind closed doors to

see if they're not if they're truly

consenting but there's still always that

little bit of pressure and even the

internal pressure that you have of

saying i could have saved this family

member a third ethical issue is uh when

we talk about the donation of children

and so you've probably seen you know

medical shows about this and stuff where

children donate bone marrow but that's a

little bit different but

all these rules that we've talked about

with living donors always involve

consent but children

we don't think that they're actually

capable of informed consent because

they're children they're not able to

make those rational kind of decisions

they're too pressured by everybody else

and that kind of thing so what do we say

about kids who are donating organs to a

sibling that would die without it now we

might say look we actually are doing

this for the child

child's benefit the donor child's

benefit because they gain a lot from

having a sibling but it's hard to know

for sure whether or not we're not just

using them in a weird way

now

as we kind of leave this living donor

thing i want us to transition into

talking about selling human organs the

sale of human organs

currently as it is a lot of people make

money from organ donation

hospitals make money off of it surgeons

make money off of it from doing the

surgery doctors staff

all these people make pretty good money

off of donations the only person who

really isn't making anything or getting

anything out of it you know the person

being donated to gets an organ and a

life-saving

treatment and that kind of stuff that

really the only person who

isn't getting anything at all is the

living donor

and so some have suggested that the u.s

and other countries should permit people

to sell their organs which is what we're

going to talk about in the next video is

it morally appropriate to sell human

organs keep in mind all these

consequentialist reasons that we're

talking about in the past there's other

ways of approaching this issue ethically

the idea of consent and stuff is

another ethical theory that we'll

discuss

called deontological ethics

but

think right now the consequentialist

reasons for this of saving other

people's lives and now as we go into the

idea of selling human organs we can use

that same kind of consequentialist

reasons to see if there's morally good

reasons to permit the cell the sale of

human organs all right that's in the

next video