Journal of Applied Philosophy 29 (4):344-358 (2012)
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Abstract |
Thousands of lives are lost each year because of a lack of organs available for transplant, but currently, in the UK and many other countries, organs cannot be taken from a deceased donor without explicit consent from the donor or his or her relatives. Switching to an ‘opt‐out’ system for organ donation could substantially increase the supply of organs, and save many lives. However, it has been argued in some quarters that there are serious ethical objections to an opt‐out policy, and that it would be better to adopt a different policy known as the ‘presumptive approach’, that requires explicit consent while also attempting to sway the choices of potential donors and family in the direction of donating, using various persuasive techniques. This article shows how reflection on the impact of a well‐known cognitive bias known as ‘status quo bias’ can explain why moving from the status quo to an opt‐out policy might be effective in increasing organ availability, even without impinging on anyone's autonomous choices, why we might have overestimated the strength of the objections to an opt‐out policy, and why the presumptive approach is morally objectionable, while an opt‐out policy is not
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DOI | 10.1111/j.1468-5930.2012.00576.x |
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Citations of this work BETA
The Reversal Test, Status Quo Bias, and Opposition to Human Cognitive Enhancement.Steve Clarke - 2016 - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 46 (3):369-386.
Organ Markets and Harms: A Reply to Dworkin, Radcliffe Richards and Walsh.Simon Rippon - 2014 - Journal of Medical Ethics 40 (3):155-156.
Nudging in Donation Policies: Registration and Decision-Making.Douglas MacKay & Katherine Saylor - 2021 - In Solveig Lena Hansen & Silke Schicktanz (eds.), Ethical Challenges of Organ Transplantation. Bielefeld, Germany: Transcript Verlag. pp. 65-80.
What Does “Presumed Consent” Might Presume? Preservation Measures and Uncontrolled Donation After Circulatory Determination of Death.Pablo de Lora - 2014 - Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 17 (3):403-411.
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