Is this live-organ donor your patient?
The transplant community is in the midst of an ethical reflection regarding the manner in which live-organ transplantation should be practiced. There is a fundamental aspect to be addressed and reaffirmed. It is the doctor-patient relationship between the transplant surgeon and the live-organ donor. This relationship brings a mutual responsibility to the physician and the donor patient to each other, which should not be abrogated by the claim of donor autonomy nor the obligation fostered by the recipient's needs. If equipoise is not affirmatively achieved in the risk-benefit calculation for the donor and the recipient, then sound medical judgment should override all other concerns.
Delmonico
Francis L
FL
Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA. francis-delmonico@neob.com
Surman
Owen S
OS
D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D007600:Judgment; D019520:Living Donors / Q000941:ethics* / Q000523:psychology; D009042:Motivation; D016377:Organ Transplantation / Q000941:ethics*; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D010361:Patients; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics*; D012941:Social Responsibility