Question

Mr. S, a 54-year-old man, and Mrs. S, a 52-year-old-woman, are the parents of two sons, J and T. T is a 28-year-old man. He is married; an emplovee of the PS Railroad and a part-time student at the University of C. T suffers from chronic glomerulus nephritis, a fatal kidney disease. He is now being kept alive by frequent dialysis treatments on an artificial kidney, a procedure that cannot be continued much longer. J is 27 years old, He has been declared legally incompetent, and through proper legal proceedings, has been committed to a state institution (a combined hospital and school) for the feebleminded. He has an LQ. of around 35, approximately corresponding to the mental age of six. He is further handicapped by a speech defect, which makes it difficult for him to communicate with those who are not well acquainted with him. Doctors determined that T would have to have a kidney transplant in order to survive. The new kidney could come either from a cadaver, if and when one became available, or from a live donor if a compatible donor could be found. T's entire family was tested, including his mother, his father, and a number of other relatives. None of these family members were medicallly acceptable as live donors due to incompatible blood type or tissue type. As a last resort, J was tested and found to be highly compatible. A psychiatrist who examined J stated that he believed T's death would have an extremely traumatic effect upon J. T is J's role model and is vital to J's continued improvement at the hospital and in school. Should J, an incompetent young man, be allowed to donate a kidney to his brother, to replace his brother's diseased kidney and save his brother's life? Should the operation be allowed to take place? Discuss. 5

Answer 1

In cases when a person is incompetent to make his own decisions, as in matters like organ donation,the court appoints a guardian on behalf of the individual.his guardian will either be the parent or another family member of the man. The doctor can also contribute his opinion about the morally right thing to do.

In such a case, a decision is reached upon by using a standard called Substituted judgment. By this, we try to understand what decision the person would have taken, if he was competent. In the case with Mr. J , it is very clear that the emotional bond between him and his brother is very strong, and he would have made the decision to donate his kidneys if he was competent to make the decision by himself.

Another standard used is the best interests of the patient, and in this case, as the condition of T is life-threatening, and the procedure doesn't cause any permanent damage or risk to the donor under normal circumstances.

So in this case,Mr. and Mrs S can take the decision on his behalf, and donate his kidney to T.