Death_Row_Donation

MEMORANDUM DATE: May 19, 2011 TO: Richard Pietila, Instructor FROM: Christen Potochick, Student SUBJECT: Reasons why death row inmates should be allowed to donate their organs INTRODUCTION In recent years, the number of Americans waiting for potentially lifesaving organ transplants on the organ transplant list has increased dramatically. “Nationwide, the number stands at 110,000. People die waiting every single day because the number in need greatly outpaces the organs available.” (Gift of life Michigan, 2010) Patiently these people wait for a phone call to tell them that a suitable organ match has been found, for some that call comes too late or never at all. The source of these organs has recently been the topic of much debate as medical research has been looking for new potential organ donors. As I searched the Walsh College data base for a possible solution to this dilemma, I thought that one good source might be the more than 3,000 prisoners on death row in the United States (Longo, 2011). Hundreds of potential recipients die needlessly every year while valuable organs are wasted, because we continue to reject physically healthy inmates as organ donation candidates. Why not organ donation by prisoners condemned to death' ANALYSIS Due to cultural, religious, and moral beliefs, organ donors are a scarce resource in the United States. There is currently no law that excludes prisoners from donating organs, but there aren’t any prisons that will allow the donation of organs from death row inmates for various reasons. If a death row inmate expresses the want, and provides consent to have their organs and/or tissue donated, who are we to deny that request' These men/women will be put to death for the crimes they’ve committed. When you consider the amount of taxpayer dollars spent on feeding, housing, and basic medical care invested in each death row inmate for the remainder of their days, doesn’t it make sense to get some sort of return on the investment' Furthermore, the prison system is a system based on the rehabilitation of inmates. For death row inmates the end result is not rehabilitation, but acceptance of the consequences of their actions, and possibly a sense of atonement for what they have done. In this respect, organ donation could be seen as a form of coming to terms with their own humanity. Research suggests that each organ donor can save up to eight lives, depending on which organs are harvested (Gift of life Michigan, 2010). So it would seem that by executing a perfectly healthy organ donor and not harvesting the organs, we would be missing out on an opportunity to benefit many. “If the nation is going to remain intransigent in its refusal to eliminate the death penalty, why not make the most of such sentences by allowing prisoners to make a significant contribution toward the lives of others” (Lewis, 2006)' One concern raised by the majority of opponents, is the quality of the organs to be donated by death row inmates. Due to the prison lifestyle, it is widely perceived that that there is a higher rate of communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis among prison populations. Therefore, it is also assumed that organs donated by such an individual would be too risky or unusable altogether. Recent studies have found that this is not the case. “Transplants from those with hepatitis to others with that disease have been done successfully for years, and similar steps and precautions could be taken with HIV donors and patients” (Cohn, 2011). Back in 1980, this would not have been a possibility because these diseases were too new and the medical field didn’t know enough about them. Thankfully, due to advancements in medical research and technology, what was once thought to be impossible is now a reality. Appropriate testing and screening processes would allow doctors to match up organ recipients with the same diagnoses, making transplants with infected organs a viable option. Another potential advantage to organ donation within the death row inmate population is the benefit that could be drawn from the scientific community. Because the risk for infectious disease is a real concern, with such a large population of infected individuals to draw from, pharmaceutical companies could use inmate organs and tissue samples to test potentially new lifesaving medications and treatment options. Another benefit of a large pool of infected test subjects such as prison populations, is the untapped wealth of control groups that are essential to conducting clinical trials for FDA approval of new medications. Finally, inmates who donate their organs and tissue to science could be used to study the chronic effects of long term intravenous drug use, the progression of diseases like HIV to AIDS, and the various stages of different cancers. Since these men are already condemned to die, why not use the prison institution and the death penalty for something good' CONCLUSION The donation of organs from death row inmates is a controversial topic. As I’ve discussed, there are several advantages to using death row inmates as organ donors. Given the current lack of donors in the United States, we should use all the resources we have, because it’s senseless to allow innocent people to die when we have the ability to prevent it. To fully comprehend both sides of this argument, you have to approach it from both the donor’s perspective as well as the recipient’s. From the stand point of the recipient, it is the hope that life will continue and that someone’s sacrifice has given them a second chance. For the inmate who has nothing more to give then him/herself, it is one last opportunity to make a selfless act, to feel the freedom of choice one last time, and make their life count for something noble in the end. “As life expectancy extends and transplant techniques improve, the need for organs will inevitably increase. The search for such donations must be broadened. To extend that search to our prisons is to affirm, not deny, the value of life” (Lewis, 2006). REFERENCES Cohn, M. (2011, April 11). HIV-infected organs can save lives, doctors say. McClatchy-Tribune Business News. Retrieved from ProQuest ABI/Inform Complete database. Gift of life: Michigan organ & tissue donation program. (n.d.). Gift of Life: Michigan Organ & Tissue Donation Program. Retrieved May 15, 2011, from http://www.giftoflifemichigan.org Lewis, C. (2006, March 15). Death row as a source of organ donations' The Philadelphia Inquirer, A15. Retrieved from LexisNexis Academic database. Longo, C. (2011, March 6). Giving life after death row. The New York Times, WK12. Retrieved from LexisNexis Academic database.