The failure of altruism: Alternatives to improve the donor rate in organ transplantation

Ethical and moral issues facing potential organ donors, their families or agents, and the medical community are created and driven by the rapidly expanding demand for the life-giving resource (ever more successfully utilized)--a factor coupled with the persistently scarce and relatively constant low level of supply. The serious nature of the shortage of compatible organs has prompted medical, ethical, and legal scholars to consider alternatives to altruistic donation. This approach has never been able to keep up with the demand--indeed, it falls further behind each year. One set of alternatives involves (currently banned) financial incentives for organ donors. I will argue that some form of incentive, or other policy-type recommendation is the only possible method of catching up with the technological innovations, that while incredible, serve to exacerbate the demand/supply dis-equilibrium. The thesis will examine the ethical and moral issues that pertain to this dilemma and recommend policies targeted at alternatives for resolving the supply problems.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Ethics and Policy Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

1998

Author dc:creator

• Mundy, John Richards

Contributors dc:contributor

• Craig Walton

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/961

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-1960