Transplant Tourism
Advancements in organ transplantation have had a significant positive impact on modern medicine. Many lives have been saved through organ transplantation. However, the previous two decades have seen an increasing shortage of organs, which has fueled the development of transplant tourism (Tsai et al., 2017). According to Tsai et al. (2017), transplant tourism refers to the practice of traveling to other countries to procure organ transplantation that frequently entails organ trade or trafficking. In this vein, in 2007, transplant tourism accounted for 10% of organ transplants conducted globally (Tsai et al., 2017). As a result, the practice of transplant tourism raises significant ethical questions. While others consider transplant tourism as ethical since it saves human lives, some segments of society strongly oppose the practice because they perceive it as unethical. While organ transplantation is a commendable medical advancement, transplant tourism is an unethical practice, which undermines the value of the life of donors who are often financially underprivileged.
In particular, I feel that transplant tourism is unethical since it entails illegal procedures and exploitation of the poor. As Negri (2016) reports, transport tourism is premised on the international movement of people organized or facilitated by brokers who attract foreign patients seeking organ transplantation by offering enticing transplant packages. The desperate patients meet with surgeons and sellers from different countries in health institutions in foreign nations to undertake clandestine surgeries (Negri, 2016). Often, individuals offering their organs are promised vast sums of money but end up being deceived out and only receiving a small amount of money as compensation (Dalal, 2015). Moreover, the surgery for organ procurement as well as post-transplant medical care is often poor (Dalal, 2015). The substandard medical procedures often lead to health complications for the organ vendors. In addition, paid vendors face social stigma for selling parts of their bodies.
More important, I perceive that transplant tourism is unethical because it leads to corruption, crowding out, and coercion. The practice facilitates corruption in that permitting the sale of organs as a normal transaction dehumanizes society by perceiving human beings and their body organs as commodities (Dalal, 2015). Similarly, crowding out takes place through the sale of body organs that triggers people who would have donated their organs to prefer selling them, hence decreasing the number of donated organs (Dalal, 2015). The process may also push persons to decline to donate their organs, resulting in an overall decrease in procured organs (Dalal, 2015). Also, brokers, who arrange for transplant tourism, and recipients often coerce economically underprivileged vendors to sell their organs (Dalal, 2015). These organ sellers do not have a reasonable economic alternative other than to exchange their organs for financial gain.
Similarly, from the responses provided in the scenario, I perceive that response A is the most ethical since it highlights the injustices that transplant tourism permits. For instance, response A suggests that due to inadequate regulations in organ transplantation in some countries, financially endowed individuals improperly benefit from poor persons via the exploitation of their vital organs (West Coast University, n.d.). As such, the practice of transplant tourism violates the principle of utility as only one party, the recipient, benefits at the expense of the organ vendor. Under utilitarianism, an action is right if it promotes net good between the parties involved (Macleod & Miller, 2016). Besides, response A is ethical because it points out that calling out transplant tourism as unethical since it allows the exploitation of the poor will not hinder medical progress (West Coast University, n.d.). Speaking out on the evils of transplant tourism opens the window of finding solutions to address the problem. Better regulation on organ transplant will facilitate medical progress as more individuals will be willing to donate their organs.
In conclusion, transplant tourism is unethical since it promotes the exploitation of poor individuals. Besides, the practice dehumanizes society and reduces human beings and body organs to mere commodities. As such, health professionals have a responsibility to fight against the practice.