Policy issues in a non-heart-beating donor protocol.
The Pittsburgh protocol is ethically and legally acceptable as written, but more research is needed to determine if it can be implemented in ways that will observe the procedures that make it ethically acceptable. If so, its desirability as public policy will depend on the number of organs it is likely to generate and its effects on public attitudes toward organ donation generally. In the final analysis, the controversial aspects of this protocol concern symbolic issues about respect for the dead and near dead, rather than substantive concerns that real patient interests will be harmed.
School of Law, University of Texas at Austin.
J A
JA
Robertson
D001926:Brain Death; D003643:Death; D030881:Disclosure; D004991:Ethics, Institutional; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006708:Homicide; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000592:standards; D018594:Human Body; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000592:standards; D016134:Organizational Policy; D010414:Pennsylvania; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012945:Social Values; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States; D028761:Withholding Treatment