Organ Donation: Social Policy, Ethical, and Legislative Issues

Voluntary, altruistic organ donation for transplantation, commonly called the“gift of life,” is the sole method of acquiring organs in the United States. Unfortunately, this means of obtaining organs has not nearly kept up with the need, which has grown because of the success of organ transplantation. As success rates have increased, organ transplantation has been offered to individuals who previously would not have been considered as candidates. The opening of more transplant centers, training of more transplant surgeons, and the coverage of transplantation by Medicare and insurance companies have all fueled the current disparity between the number of individuals awaiting organ transplants and the number of transplants that are performed, a disparity almost entirely due to the shortage of donor organs.