The Difficult Ethics of Organ Donations From Living Donors
A woman wanted to donate the kidney of her dying husband. And that raised all sorts of hard questions.
The Wall Street Journal
June 26, 2016
By Amy Dockser Marcus, HMS MBE '17
Robert Osterrieder, a 52-year-old project manager, returned home to Pittsburgh from a business trip complaining about problems with his vision. Two days later, he was in the hospital on a ventilator.
For the next five months, Mr. Osterrieder fought for his life. His brain swelled, and he underwent numerous medical procedures. He struggled with pneumonia and needed a feeding tube. Finally, as he lay in the hospital unconscious and with little likelihood of recovery, his family decided to remove his life support. But first, they wanted him to become an organ donor.
Organ transplants are based on a longstanding rule: You can only take vital organs—a heart, for instance, or both kidneys—from someone who is dead. And removing any organ cannot be the cause of the donor’s death.
Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal