Podcast on kidney exchange, and ethical issues in organ transplantation

The March 2012 issue of the AMA journal Virtual Mentor is a special issue on Organ Transplantation.

It contains a two part podcast of an interview with me about kidney exchange:

http://www.soundprescribing.org/podcast/ethics-talk-kidney-patient-donor-exchanges-part-one.mp3

http://www.soundprescribing.org/podcast/ethics-talk-kidney-patient-donor-exchanges-part-two.mp3

Organ Transplantation

Ethics Poll

Should there be a commercial market in organs?
Yes. Individuals sell sperm and ova, and corporate sales of human tissue, tendons, bones, and heart valves reap enormous profits. Organs should be no different.
No. People with health but not wealth would be coerced by dire short-term needs to put their health at risk by selling organs.
Not for dollars, but living donors should be promised a free organ transplant if they ever need one.
I don't know.

Which of the following do you think should be the most important criterion for determining who will receive an organ?
Sickest person first.
Person who has been on the organ recipient wait list the longest.
Person with the best prognosis.
Youngest person.
Person with the best support (family, social, economic) for meeting the demands of posttransplant life.
Equal chance for all to "win" the organ, i.e., a lottery.
None of the above.

Have you formally declared (e.g., on driver's licence or advance directive) that you wish to donate your organs after death?
Yes.
No.

 

FROM THE EDITOR

The Frontiers of Organ Transplantation: “Oh, The Places We’ll Go”
Alon B. Neidich
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:184-185.

EDUCATING FOR PROFESSIONALISM

Ethics Cases

Assessing the Motives of Living, Non-Related Donors
Commentary by Katrina A. Bramstedt, and Francis L. Delmonico
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:186-189.

Should a Nonadherent Adolescent Receive a Second Kidney?
Commentary by John D. Lantos and Bradley A. Warady
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:190-193.

Family Physicians’ Role in Discussing Organ Donation with Patients and the Public
Commentary by Keren Ladin and Douglas W. Hanto
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:194-200.

Medical Education

Online Ethics-Education Modules and Ethics Forums of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons
John M. Ham
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:201-203.

The Code Says

AMA Code of Medical Ethics’ Opinions on Organ Transplantation
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:204-214.

Journal Discussion

Living-Donor Grafts for Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Mohamed Elhassan Akoad
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:215-220.

State of the Art and Science

Severe Brain Injury and Organ Solicitation: A Call for Temperance
Joseph J. Fins
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:221-226.

Sham Surgery
Richard J. Rohrer
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:227-231.

LAW, POLICY, AND SOCIETY

Health Law

Reproductive Tissue Transplants Defy Legal and Ethical Categorization
Valarie Blake and Kavita Shah
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:232-236.

Policy Forum

Contemporary Debates over the Acceptability of Kidneys for Donation
Benjamin Hippen
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:237-244.

Rationing Livers: The Persistence of Geographic Inequity in Organ Allocation
Bruce C. Vladeck, Sander Florman, and Jonathan Cooper
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:245-249.

Implications of the Affordable Care Act for Kidney Transplantation
Christine S. Rizk and Sanjiv N. Singh
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:250-255.

Medicine and Society

The Veneer of Altruism
Michele Goodwin
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:256-263.

HISTORY, ART, AND NARRATIVE

History of Medicine

The Ethics of Organ Transplantation: A Brief History
Albert R. Jonsen
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:264-268.

Medical Narrative

Liver Transplantation: The Illusion of Choice
Carol Panetta Zazula
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:269-271.

OP-ED AND CORRESPONDENCE

Op-Ed

The Limits of Altruism: Selecting Living Donors
Richard B. Freeman Jr.
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:272-277.

RESOURCES

Suggested Readings and Resources
PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:278-291.

About the Contributors
Full Text | PDF
Virtual Mentor. 2012; 14:292-295.