The Prospective Organ Transplant Donor: Problems and Prospects of Medical Innovation

With increased sophistication of medical technology and the consequent expansion in the number of organ transplants, the complex of issues involving recipient, donor–related and unrelated–and physician becomes crucial. This discussion is based on preliminary findings of two studies being conducted at the University of Minnesota: (1) a review of 79 kidney transplant cases to examine stress on family when decisions of choosing a donor arise; (2) an analysis of attitudinal characteristics of 82 persons who have considered volunteering their organs for transplantation in the event of their death. Results of these studies reveal often dramatic consequences for those immediately involved, and uncover attitudes in the population sampled which bear on the future of available organs for transplantation.