Organ Donation after Cardiac Death (DCD), formerly known as the non-heart beating donation protocol (NHBD) is a misused and deadly form of organ donation. When I was an editorial writer for the St. Louis Review, the Review published an editorial calling for a moratorium on donations following this protocol. It was criticized by some so-called bioethicists and some who claimed to be Catholic moralists. Still, to be honest, it remains a questionable practice. It is interesting that this group of doctors now is calling for the same.
The fact of the matter is that there are doctors on the other side of the issue who argue that we should abandon the dead donor rule for the same reasons that these doctors say that there should be a moratorium on this practice, that is, that the intended donors are not dead. I think it is embarrassing that those who claim to support organ donation will not deal the practical side of the dead donor rule. Why stick one's head in the sand? Isn't it best to get this out in the open? If you claim to support ethical organ donation, why not allow an open an honest discussion? Why not support full disclosure to potential organ donors? Shouldn't potential donors know that when the decision is made to take their organs that they, the donors, might not be dead?
The fact of the matter is that there are doctors on the other side of the issue who argue that we should abandon the dead donor rule for the same reasons that these doctors say that there should be a moratorium on this practice, that is, that the intended donors are not dead. I think it is embarrassing that those who claim to support organ donation will not deal the practical side of the dead donor rule. Why stick one's head in the sand? Isn't it best to get this out in the open? If you claim to support ethical organ donation, why not allow an open an honest discussion? Why not support full disclosure to potential organ donors? Shouldn't potential donors know that when the decision is made to take their organs that they, the donors, might not be dead?
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