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Sakali

Greener Journal of Biomedical and Health Sciences

Vol. 1 (1), pp. 014-021, January 2014.

Research Paper

Manuscript Number: 012714066

Delicate Organ Transplantation, Euthanasia and the Correct Application of the Principle of Double Effect

Ferdnand Sakali

Stella Maris Mtwara University College, (A Constituent College of St. Augustine University of Tanzania),

P.o. Box 674, Mtwara.

 Email: ferdnandsakali @ yahoo. com, Cell phone: +254706819453, +255763902620,

Fax number: +255 23 2334483

Abstract:

As biomedical technology and skills get advanced, new ethical questions keep on arising. Currently, medical technology and skills may be utilized to transplant delicate organs like the heart, but the question is; where do we get the hearts for transplantation if not from live bodies? Besides, is such a practice ethical? In some circumstances, it may seem plausible for a physician to intentionally terminate life of a patient whose death is imminent and yet the patient is suffering incurably; but would such an action be ethically permissible? And if such practices would be legalized, could it be a lee way for some patients to be killed on the basis of quality of their life in order to legitimately harvest delicate organs like the heart from them? This paper illuminates concrete situations in biomedical practice and evaluates them in the light of practical application of the principle of double effect in relation to euthanasia and organ transplantation.

Keywords: Delicate Organ Transplantation, the Principle of Double Effect, Ethanasia, the Natural law Ethical Theory, Human Rights and Organ Donation, Peter Singer’s Evaluation, Quality of Life Ethic, Dr. Frank Shanon’s Dilemma, Determinants of ethics, Heart Transplantation.

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Journal Name : citation_journal : Greener Journal of Biomedical and Health Sciences