Abstract

Sung-Duk Bauman was born in Korea and adopted to an American family. Later, he was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia. His family began to search for potential donors having compatible bone marrow that exactly matched to his bone-marrow type. After broadcasting a touching documentary on this tissue search, a national campaign to look for donors swept Korea. The Commander-in-Chief ordered the military to find the match in an army donor and the transplant was successfully done. Twenty years on, upon close examination of the supposed altruistic donation, several ethical issues now emerged. First, the donation was mandatory and not voluntary on the part of the army donor. Second, the Ministry of National Defense disclosed the identity of the donor before the family consent for transplant was given. Third, the information consent process for the donor or his family was also improper. Fourth, the medical staff failed to prepare a safeguard for the donor. This paper insists on free and voluntary donation of human tissue and/or organ, and not forced, commanded or mandated donation.