Question

Please post your thoughts about the ICU Organ Transplant Dilemma.

Here's the dilemma once more:

You are the lead physician in an ICU. There are four people in critical condition, and they all will likely die soon for different reasons unless you intervene. Three of them will die unless they each receive a certain organ. As with the first dilemma, one needs a heart, another a kidney, and another a liver. The fourth patient in critical condition will die from certain brain trauma. But you know that you can stabilize this patient, keep them from dying and that they will likely make a modest recovery. So you can save at least that one patient.

However, you realize that the patient you can save would be a perfect donor for the other three!

So, if you don't save that patient, and instead let that patient die, and you can harvest that patient's organs and save the other three patients! Suppose there would be nothing illegal in letting that patient die (that patient even has an organ donor card!) Also suppose that everything else is equal (all the patients are of the same age, etc.). What should you do, then? Should you let that patient die, and save the other three? Or should save that patient, and let the other three die?

Answer 1

If the patient is denied treatment, thinking he can be a potential donor for another three patients, is a murder in true sense.

Every human being has equal right to live as well as equal right to access medical treatment. If we deny the treatment, it will be against medical ethics as well as law. The patient can be stabilized and returned back to life. If that is denied, and the truth when comes to light, people lose trust in organ donation activities itself. We can not kill somebody and save another's life. Healthcare is not compromising, but providing equal care for all.

Also kidney and liver are organs which can be harvested from living and willing donors. The physician has to find ways for that so as to save the patients, like blood relatives or voluntary donors. The organ harvesting is done from brain dead patients, in case of heart.

The medical ethics is not to let anyone die, but do the best for each one to have a better life.