Organ Donation Caution

Organ donation’s a good thing, but new evidence shows you need to be careful when considering this for yourself or a loved-one. In the past, they’ve had what they call the “dead donor rule.” You make sure the patient is dead before harvesting organs. But a frightening article in the New England Journal of Medicine published an opposing view. They say the patient doesn’t have to be dead for it to be ethical. Death only has to be imminent. Who defines imminent? We’ve seen advocates of euthanasia use the same wording. Imminent or not, it’s dead wrong to kill a patient for his or her organs. It’s opening Pandora’s Box. If you destroy people’s trust in the organ donation system, nobody will want to be part of it for fear of their own lives.