Ari R. Joffe, Joe Carcillo, Natalie Anton, Allan deCaen, Yong Y. Han, Michael J. Bell, Frank A. Maffei, John Sullivan, James Thomas & Gonzalo Garcia-Guerra
Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine 6:17 (2011)
Authors | |
Abstract |
Many believe that the ethical problems of donation after cardiocirculatory death (DCD) have been "worked out" and that it is unclear why DCD should be resisted. In this paper we will argue that DCD donors may not yet be dead, and therefore that organ donation during DCD may violate the dead donor rule. We first present a description of the process of DCD and the standard ethical rationale for the practice. We then present our concerns with DCD, including the following: irreversibility of absent circulation has not occurred and the many attempts to claim it has have all failed; conflicts of interest at all steps in the DCD process, including the decision to withdraw life support before DCD, are simply unavoidable; potentially harmful premortem interventions to preserve organ utility are not justifiable, even with the help of the principle of double effect; claims that DCD conforms with the intent of the law and current accepted medical standards are misleading and inaccurate; and consensus statements by respected medical groups do not change these arguments due to their low quality including being plagued by conflict of interest. Moreover, some arguments in favor of DCD, while likely true, are "straw-man arguments," such as the great benefit of organ donation. The truth is that honesty and trustworthiness require that we face these problems instead of avoiding them. We believe that DCD is not ethically allowable because it abandons the dead donor rule, has unavoidable conflicts of interests, and implements premortem interventions which can hasten death. These important points have not been, but need to be fully disclosed to the public and incorporated into fully informed consent. These are tall orders, and require open public debate. Until this debate occurs, we call for a moratorium on the practice of DCD
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Keywords | Dead donor rule Death Donation after cardiac death Organ donation |
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DOI | 10.1186/1747-5341-6-17 |
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References found in this work BETA
Should We Allow Organ Donation Euthanasia? Alternatives for Maximizing the Number and Quality of Organs for Transplantation.Dominic Wilkinson & Julian Savulescu - 2012 - Bioethics 26 (1):32-48.
The Whole-Brain Concept of Death Remains Optimum Public Policy.James L. Bernat - 2006 - Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 34 (1):35-43.
The Dead Donor Rule: Can It Withstand Critical Scrutiny?F. G. Miller, R. D. Truog & D. W. Brock - 2010 - Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 35 (3):299-312.
Donation After Circulatory Death: Burying the Dead Donor Rule.David Rodríguez-Arias, Maxwell J. Smith & Neil M. Lazar - 2011 - American Journal of Bioethics 11 (8):36-43.
View all 40 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Addressing Consent Issues in Donation After Circulatory Determination of Death.Kim J. Overby, Michael S. Weinstein & Autumn Fiester - 2015 - American Journal of Bioethics 15 (8):3-9.
On Noncongruence Between the Concept and Determination of Death.James L. Bernat - 2013 - Hastings Center Report 43 (6):25-33.
Taking Science Seriously in the Debate on Death and Organ Transplantation.Michael Nair-Collins - 2015 - Hastings Center Report 45 (6):38-48.
A Rationale in Support of Uncontrolled Donation After Circulatory Determination of Death.Kevin G. Munjal, Stephen P. Wall, Lewis R. Goldfrank, Alexander Gilbert & Bradley J. Kaufman - 2013 - Hastings Center Report 43 (1):19-26.
How (Not) to Think of the ‘Dead-Donor’ Rule.Adam Omelianchuk - 2018 - Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 39 (1):1-25.
View all 19 citations / Add more citations
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