POSITIVE AND NIGATIVE ASPECTS OF ORGAN DONATION

Introduction

Organ donation is considered a debatable subject that has been argued since long time ago. Some people see organ donation as a lifesaving, where others think that organ donation is very risky and can destroy lives or even families.As a result, the dispute between people is still taking place in the acceptance or refusal of organ donation. Indeed, there is a conflict of interest when it comes to organ donation due to the high sensitivity of this subject. To discuss this issue, I am going to refer to two articles. The first one is titled “Gift of Life: The Importance of Organ Donation”. Been published by Brigham and Women's HospitalBulletin for and about the people of Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The second article is written by Bootie Cosgrove-Mather and titled “The Dark Side of Organ Donation.” The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast this two article

Side A

The first article which is titled “Gift of Life: The Importance of Organ Donation”,by Brigham and Women's Hospital, discusses the importance of organ donation and the number of people who are waiting for organ donation as well as the number of people who die every year due to the lack of organ donations. However, this article argues that organ donation support is not enough. There should be a certain steps which the donor should take to ensure the donation process is successful. Moreover, this article states that each organ donor can save up to eight lives, and each tissue donor can support the lives of many more people. Also important to discuss the decision of donation with the donor’s family so that they can be aware of the process.

So, there is a lot of difference of opinions that may be beyond human understanding of different aspects of organ donation. Nevertheless, most people believe that organ donation is top priority for the rich and famous people. Whereas, the facts are that patients who are ready for transplantation, the distribution of the organs will be control of the official organization, as per the patient's date, which is blood type, body mass, medical necessity, and finally the period of stay on the national waiting list.

Side B

The second article titled “The Dark Side of Organ Donation” is written by Bootie Cosgrove-Mather. Discusses the negative effects of organ transplant and its problematic consequences. This article tells a story of Kimberly Tracy who is donating her kidney to her nephew. The doctors described this surgery as a no-big-deal procedure which means that it has low risk. However, there were a lot of medical complications that she suffered afterwards that included abdominal contractions, vomiting, and pelvic pain. This article argues that there are no clear statistics about donors’ medical complications. Additionally, transplant programs and doctors don’t always provide enough details about the risks of transplant operation. Anyhow, taking a healthy organ from a healthy person has no medical benefits to that person whatsoever. In some cases, transplant surgery has minimal effects on the donor, but this is not always the case. To solve the problem and make the side effects of the organ donation clear, there become two ideas. First, to develop a national statistics record to include all living donors and the complications they might have after the transplant surgery. The second idea is to assign an independent counselor at every hospital who can explain all the associated risks of organ donation. Moreover, donors’ deaths are rare but may could happen. This was the case when a reporter died in New York trying to donate part of his liver to his brother. Nationwide, the transplant network has recognized 28 deaths so far. The negative consequences of organ donations are not only medical, but also economical and social. For example, Walter Wood had an abdominal rupture after he donated his kidney to his brother. So, he could not keep his job due to the fact that he could not lift heavy weights. He found himself obliged to sell his house and was very close to bankruptcy.

Analysis

The two articles are opposed to each other. The first article depicts organ donation as a gift, lifesaving, and very important to the society. On the other hand, the second article focuses on the negative effects of organ donation and the possible medical, economical, and social complications of organ transplant. Therefore, the donors should know and be aware in advance about the details and the associated risks of organ donation. This is basically the main difference between the two articles. However, the second article discusses the negative effects of the living donors only, whereas, the first article stresses the importance of organ donation for both dead as well as alive donors.

Conclusion

In conclusion, organ donation is very important topic. Has two sides that can be argued where some people think it is lifesaving where others consider it very risky and life threatening. However, more research can be done on this subject matter. The importance is very crucial but at the same time there are some risks and complications for the living donors. As for the deceased donors, this issue is still arguable on the social level. Families tend to honor the body of their lost member so they prefer not to touch it or take any organs away from it. More medical and social research can be considered in the future to help develop and facilitate transplant process on all levels.

References

Gift of Life: The Importance of Organ Donation- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of

Brigham and Women's Hospital. (2011, May 13). Retrieved September 29, 2015, from http://www.brighamandwomens.org/about_bwh/publicaffairs/news/publications/DisplayBulletin.aspx?articleid=5247

The Dark Side of Organ Donation. (n.d.). Retrieved September 29, 2015, from

            http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-dark-side-of-organ-donation/