Spare-part surgery: the ethics of organ transplantation

It has been written, "Material problems are easy to solve. It is the moral and ethical implications that reveal the defects in human nature."(1) Organ transplantation allows physicians to manipulate the course of, or to even surmount, the inevitable deterioration of human organ systems. To date, necessary reexaminations of ethical and moral beliefs have not kept pace with the tremendous surge in surgical prowess. Opposing viewpoints on the ethics of transplantation have been so emotive that the differing protagonists have been unable to reach a consensus for a national donor policy. This multifaceted dispute involves questions about costs and priorities, the problem of choice, the quality of life, the definition of death, and the welfare of the individual and society.