Apparently, life and death are no longer easily defined. What ethics should apply here?
Organ Donors: The Undead and the Industry that Kills Them
Organ Donors: The Undead and the Industry that Kills Them
Quote:a “pretty dead” patient is dead enough to begin the organ extraction process.
An important issue to note is the BHCs are denied anesthesia during transplant surgery. Experts contend that anesthesia damages the organs.
Gail A. Van Norman, professor of bioethics and anesthesiology at the University of Washington cites that some BHCs are more than not dead when the extraction process begins. She explains examples where patients have:
• Begun to breathe during a liver extraction
• Gasped after an apnea test, but was declared dead anyway
• 30 year old head trauma patient began breathing during preparations for organ removal
• Donor reaction to scalpel incisions
• Reactive eye pupils and gag reflex during surgery for liver donation
• Patents coughing, grimacing and movement of arms and legs during and after the extraction procedure
• Regaining consciousness :exclamation:
• Showing signs of being alert and coherent during the transplant surgery