Restricting who gets an organ transplant
July 20, 2018 by Taylor Mcneil, Tufts University
“Conditioning a person’s ability to pursue life-saving treatment on social factors is ethically problematic,†said Keren Ladin. Credit: Ingimage
Almost 95,000 people in the United States are waiting for a life-saving kidney transplant. But thousands of other Americans aren't on the list simply because they are not perceived as having enough support from family and friends, one of the national criteria for determining who gets an organ transplant of any kind.
There is limited evidence suggesting that social support plays an important role in the success of organ transplants, said Keren Ladin, an assistant professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, a fact that may have contributed to efforts by other countries, such as Canada and the European Union, to remove it as a criterion for organ transplantation.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-07-restricting-transplant.html
