Course Project

Running Head : ETHICAL ISSUES INVOLVED IN MEDICARE-FUNDED ORGAN TRANSPLANTS

Ethical Issues Involved In Medicare-Funded Organ Transplants (Your Name (Your School

Introduction

When the dialysis machine was discovered in 1960s , there were hopes that renal failure patients would get a life prolonging care . For renal failure patients it was a matter of life and death and everyone was willing to pay the amount no matter what to get to the dialyzed . Soon it became a controversial issue when it was realized that the demand was outstripping supply and equal distribution of the

few dialysis machines available became controversial . While the issue of dialysis machine is still controversial , our health care system has been caught in another ethical dilemma regarding organ transplant . Organ transplant is closely tied to the issue of dialysis since renal failure patients can get organ transplant as an alternative to dialysis . The issue has been complicated by the fact Medicare has been funding organ transplant and there are those who feel that allocation of the scarce transplant is not fair . There are thousands of terminally ill patient whose life can be saved by organ transplant but there is no any working formula that can be used to determine who among the thousand patients will be given priority . It is left to the discretion of the medical officers to decide who is worth saving . In to deal with this problem , there is need to come up with strategies that will ensure fair distribution of Medicaid funded organ transplants...