Currently, there is a shortage of organ donors. The demands are higher than the supply of organs for donation. Over 106,000 people are currently on the national transplant list. This means that decisions are made every day when deciding which patient is the next on the list to receive a so expectant organ.
This is very tough as people depend on organs to live. So the longer they wait, the less chance of survival. Due to the shortage and the extensive line and waiting list, UNOS( United Network for Organ Sharing) was created to make the process easier and match donated organs to transplant candidates. This can help to save more lives. How do UNOS works? The hospital sends medical information of a patient who requires a new organ to the Unos' website. When an organ becomes available, UNOS determines which patient is most compatible with the available organ by filtering the list of candidates and their medical information. For a patient to be a potential match with the available organ, many factors need to be considered such as the patient’s blood type, height, weight, organ size, medical urgency, time spent on the waiting list, and genetic makeup. After that, an organ is offered to the patient with the best match. Moreover, organ donation is prioritized for patients who are younger and have a higher chance to live, so these patients are placed at the top of the list. Geographical location is also some of the factors in the decision-making because some organs have less time to be transplanted and pediatric status.
A patient who is on the waiting list and has high survival chance has a total moral right to obtain an organ transplant. In health care, prioritization is applied,
so when there is an organ shortage the following: Patients with high survival chances, young children, and transplant organs with limited rejection rate such as corneal transplants.
Right below is my professor's question. Please help me answer to it.
Thanks
-Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the topic of organ donation. Some feel that it is appropriate to use age as a factor of deciding who should or should not get an organ. How does this differ from using race or gender as a qualifying factor? Explain.