Ethics HU4640.U8.WS2

Body Donor Worksheet

Name: ________________________

In the United States it is currently illegal to sell body parts for transplant purposes. It is legal in some other

countries, and some desperately poor people will sell a kidney or other organ for transplant purposes in

exchange for enough money to help their family survive and avoid hunger.

Case Study:

Your friend comes to you and explains that he or she has large debts, more than they can pay,

and that their family is in desperate need of money. They had themselves tested and it turns out

that several of their body parts are exact matches for wealthy people who need them and are

willing to pay. Your friend could sell one kidney, an eye, their bone marrow, and half their liver.

The bone marrow will grow back but the procedure of extracting it is extremely painful at the best

of times. The liver will probably grow back over a period of years. The other organs will be

permanently removed. Your friend has not yet signed the paperwork indicating which, if any,

organs they will donate.

As part of explaining this, your friend hands you the paperwork and the plane tickets that will take

them to another country where the surgeries will be performed. You are standing next to the

office shredder. If your friend does not show up, then the people who need the organs will go to a

different donor who is not as good of a match for them.

The class will discuss the following questions. For each, make a few notes about your answer and about

the ethical approach behind your answer.

What advice do you give them?

Do you drop the tickets and paperwork into the shredder?

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Ethics HU4640.U8.WS2

Should your advice be affected by whether or not the people receiving the organs are likely to die

without them?

Should your advice be affected by whether or not the people receiving the organs destroyed their

original organs through drug abuse or poor decision-making?

Should your advice be affected by the reasons why your friend wants the money?

Re-read your answers above. What ethical approaches are you using most often?

(Hint: this information may help you with your course project.)

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