Legal and Ethical Aspects of Organ Transplantation

Organ transplantation raises singularly difficult ethical and legal issues in its requirement for donated organs. Strategies to facilitate supply in the face of increasing demand must be ethically sound and subject to an appropriate and effective regulatory framework. Professor David Price reviews the ethical principles and positions underpinning such law and policies, probing for coherence, consistency and justification. The book incorporates a comprehensive analysis of existing laws and policies governing transplantation practices around the world. It examines the meaning of death, cadaver organ procurement policies, use of living donors, trading in human organs, experimental transplant procedures and xenotransplantation. Drawing upon a wide range of disciplinary and empirical materials Price explores the balance between the interests of donors, recipients, clinicians, and society, identifying the specific challenges of this subject and seeking to guide current practices and future developments in the context of cultural diversity and pluralistic societies.

Introduction; Part I. Introduction to Cadaveric Organ Transplantation: 1. Why and when is a potential donor a cadaver?; 2. Organ procurement systems; 3. Interests in the corpse; 4. Maintenance and preservation of the cadaver; 5. Treatment of potential donors prior to death; Part II. Introduction to Living Donor Organ Transplantation: 6. The rationale and limits of living donor organ transplantation; 7. Informed consent to living organ donation; 8. Contentious classes of donors; Part III. General Issues: 9. Commerce; 10. Recipients; Conclusion.

David Price is Professor of Medical Law at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. He is Chairperson of the EUROTOLD Project Management Group of the European Commission and a member of the World Health Organisation Task Force on Organ Transplantation.