The organ shortage in the United States which leads to the death of thousands of people each year could be eradicated if only American people fight to overcome their reluctance to become organ donors for those needing transplants. Proposals to `presume consent` for organ donation violate individual rights and mandated choice system, such as those in which individuals can/must decide about whether they should donate their organs or not.
The most effective way to increase organ donation is to raise public awareness about it and families that discuss the issue are much more likely to permit a loved one’s organs to be donated after death (Benny Jr. , 29). What are entailed in the whole issue of organ transplantation? The National Transplant Act of 1984 prohibited the use of organs to be “bought, sold, swapped or traded for any kinds of monetary gains.
” This clearly and succinctly states that motives for enriching oneself should have been settled from the outset. But this is blatantly opposite in practice. Due to high demand, according to findings in a study made by Watkins in 2005, the researcher said that between the years 1988 and 1995, patients waiting for possible kidney donors had increased to 141% (Watkins, 2005 in Kaserman & Barnett, supra note6, at 33).
In this study, “waiting time has at least four substantial consequences:
(1) Patient suffering is prolonged;
(2) Expense of keeping patients alive is considerably increased;
(3) Patient health deteriorates and patients are less able to withstand an operation’s physical stress as time passes; and
(4) Many patients die because they cannot get an organ within a reasonable time frame” ( Watkins, 2005 in Kaserman & Barnett, supra note6, at 33).