Read the case of the transplant decision and decide on your own who should get the only heart available. Discuss with the class who you chose and why.
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This topic is a hard one. But in order to understand where I am coming from in relation to the patient i choose here are my top 3 patients that i am torn at and reasons why I DID NOT CHOOSE the ff:
1. Pregnant lady 15 years old. - organ transplant need a life long supply of immunosuppressant medication like PROGRAF for instance, and other medication, all of them are either in Pregnancy category C or D which means it will cause harm to the fetus. So most likely either the fetus will die during the surgery or after recovery and the mom will live.
2. 12 year old musician, she is still young i believe that with medication and treatment she will be able to live while waiting for a new heart donor.
3. Brain surgeon- although she is important in medical field i believe that she has alot of money and she will have access to another donors heart.
4. Scientist although i was going to choose her already i believe that the 17 year old need the heart more than her.
This is really hard and that is why its hard to be in ethics committee i would want them to receive the heart but its a hard choice to make
The individual i choose was not based on anything but the fact of how many people are affected by this person. So i came down to three choices:
3. A 40 year-old teacher. Hispanic male, two children.
6. A 17 year old waitress. White, high school dropout. Helps support her family with her earnings.
7. A 38 year old scientist close to discovering a cure for AIDS. Chinese woman, no children, lesbian.
I then ruled out the seventeen year old because her family would still be able to manage without her.
Then I ruled out the 40 year old hispanic man only because I believe the scientist can save more lives if she is given the heart. Basically if she dies then the people she could have saved won't be saved now. This isn't an easy decision because i know how difficult it would be to be the hispanic man's family. But in the end i truly believe that the scientist affects more lives.
I thought about this for hours and could not come up with a decision. This is emotionally draining and just thinking about picking someone makes me nervous. The weight that these surgeons carry is unbelievable. Finally after giving it some thought I have chosen to give the heart to the 12-year old musician, Japanese girl. I have chosen to give her the heart because she is the youngest on the list. I believe that she should have a second shot in life because she is still so young. Everyone else has lived longer than her. Life is so unfair sometimes and being part of a committee that has to make that decision is tough. On the other hand, we are just getting the basis of each case and not details, so it makes it a lot harder for us to make a decision.
This topic is indeed a hard one. I can’t believe surgeons are put in these situations. I don’t think I would be able to be a surgeon because of all the emotional stress this can cause. As a read down the list, it got harder and harder toward who I would chose to give the heart transplant to, especially because there are 7 people in need of the heart and only 1 heart to donate. Some people I quickly eliminated because of their age. For instance, the 40 year old teacher, the priest because he was 35 years old, the famous brain surgeon because she was 31. These people have lived most of their life already. I know everyone deserves to live and long a happy life, but life can be really unfair sometimes. I also eliminated the 38 year old scientist who is about to find the cure for aids because of her age as well. However, what made it harder for me to eliminate her wasn’t because of her age, it was because of the discovery she is about to make. Yet, I feel like someone else can take over her research, and find the cure for aids as long as she leaves all her proof and evidences. I also eliminated the pregnant 15 women because a surgery like this can be more risky than any other the others. I think it would be more emotionally distressful because it involves the lives of two beings. But I honestly believe there is no way the mother and the baby could survive this surgery. Therefore, the heart should be given to someone who could actually be saved. I also wouldn’t pick the 17 year old girl because I feel like her family support themselves without her help. She also I a high school dropout and doesn't have a successful future ahead of her. In the end I ended up picking the 12 year old Japanese girl. I picked her because she is still little. She hasn't experienced life at all at this age. I also feel like the surgery would come out very successful because she is young and she will be able to recover a lot faster.
Stephanie Galaviz
There are many factors that need to be taken into consideration prior to making an appropriate decision. Among these that need to be considered is if this is an acute emergency situation, are any of these patients currently on the list for this transplant and what type of lifestyle do these patients lead.
If we are making a "blind" decision not knowing any of the above mentioned factors I would, without hesitation, chose the 38 year-old scientist.
What stands out is that this candidate is currently on the verge of discovering a cure for a disease that plagues the world. Even if she does not complete her research prior to her death she will have the chance to continue her research, which leaves a platform for her colleague or protégé to continue on with it.
I can see that there are many young candidates on the list and one could argue that they haven't really "lived out their lives". Yet, we also have to take into consideration the lives that they maybe leading now. They are young and my greatest concern would be that they would not properly care for the heart.
The other candidates on the list all present valid reason as to why they should receive the heart. Yet, it does not appear that there would be as great of a loss if they were not given the heart.
The brain surgeon as made a mark in the medical field, she has helped many people and possible even made discoveries that have helped advance the knowledge and technology in her field. The teacher’s loss will have an effect on his children and even his students, but that does not provide reasoning as to why he should get the heart over the others and the priest, I would assume, would put others before him.
The age, ethnicity, sexual preference, and marital status needs to not have any bearing on the decision made. Ultimately the heart needs to be given to someone that will appreciate the "gift" that given to them from the donor and the donor’s family, as well as someone that will continue with the proper care and lifestyle after receiving the heart.
To an extent we are deciding whose life is more valuable. Who, in a sense, "deserves" to live? Not knowing any other factor but what is given to us, it appears that the loss of the scientist has a universal affect. She is doing something that will help millions of people and continue to help people long after her death.
This was a hard decision to make. Although all of the patients deserve a heart transplant, I started narrowing down the list by age. I started out with the three youngest. I eliminated the 15 year old pregnant girl because her baby would most certainly die if she received the transplant, and if she died after receiving it- two lives would have been lost instead of one. I think the 17 year old girl would be the best choice because her body would most likely be stronger than the 12 year old girl's. She would probably be more capable of undergoing the treatments and accepting her limitations and dealing with the entire situation in a more mature way since she is older. It would be so hard to have to make this decision in a real life situation.
This decision made me feel awful. These people have lives, families, people who care. However, this is also sort of a half biased decision because we are given no real indication as to who is in worse condition. I would choose the 12 year old, as she is resilient as a child and has her whole life to live.
I ruled out ethnicity and sexual preference as a determinant because neither of these has a bearing on this decision. It does not make one patient a better candidate than the other, so in other words, this information is useless. Determining factors include contribution to society, age, and family ties (do they have children, family, etc.)
1. A famous brain surgeon at the height of her career. Single, African-American woman. No children. 31 years old.
She has a lot that she can contribute to society- there are a lot more teachers, waitresses, and high school dropouts than there are neurosurgeons. There is a level of investment in this individual, and there will be a measurable return on that investment if she gets the transplant and her life is prolonged.
2. A 12 year old musician. Japanese girl.
Many people chose the 12 year old because she is the youngest, but I feel that this is emotional reasoning. Additionally, I agree with arlly on this individual. Given her young age, I believe that her body will be more resilient and capable of holding on while waiting for another donor; much more so than an older individual like the 40 year old or the 35 year old. The older individuals have a higher chance of dying while waiting for another donor than the 12 year old.
3. A 40 year-old teacher. Hispanic male, two children.
The teacher would be higher up on the list than some of the other candidates because as a teacher, he makes a valuable contribution to society, and additionally he has two children to care for. Does he have a wife or someone else that can care for the children if he does not live? With the given information, he would also be valuable.
4. A 15 year old pregnant woman. Unmarried, white, no other children.
At first, without thought, I chose this woman first because she is pregnant and you would be either saving or losing two lives directly with the decision. But the more I thought about it, the likelihood of an unborn fetus surviving while the mother undergoes a heart transplant is low. Then there is also the possibility of the child not making it during the mothers recovery. So I decided against her as well.
5. A 35 year old Roman Catholic priest.
I immediately decided against this person but realized I was using emotional reasoning, because of the issues of child abuse within the Catholic church. Lets assume that he doesn't have a history of abuse, and that he is a good man, a spiritual guide for people. In this case, he is also of value, but only to Catholics that attend his church within his neighborhood/ community. So although his contribution to society is good, it is of a more limited scale than the brain surgeon, and there are more priests than there are brain surgeons. So I believe that it is more affordable to lose one priest than one brain surgeon.
6. A 17 year old waitress. White, high school dropout. Helps support her family with her earnings.
I use the same reasoning as I did for the 12 year old child, she will have a higher chance of survival while waiting on the transplant list than the older individuals. Her contribution extends only to within her immediate household, and no further than that. If her family lost her they would still be able to manage, it would make things harder without her but it would not spell the end for them.
7. A 38 year old scientist close to discovering a cure for AIDS. Chinese woman, no children, lesbian.
I chose this person for the transplant because losing them would have the greatest negative impact on the world. For each of these patients I asked four questions.
1- What is the worst case scenario if they get the transplant?
2- What is the best case scenario if they get the transplant?
3- What is the worst case scenario if they don’t get the transplant?
4- What is the best case scenario if they don't get the transplant?
From these questions for each of the patients I decided to choose the 38 year old scientist because if her life is extended long enough to cure AIDS, it will be one of the most historically positive gains for mankind. To choose any of the individuals on this list over the 38 year old is also cutting short the lives of millions of people living with HIV/AIDS. Therefore, I believe that this patient has the most to contribute to the world. Additionally, she is 38, so her body isn’t as capable of waiting on the transplant list for another donor.
I chose the 38 year old,chinese women , lesbian. Not her age or her sexual preference had anything to do with my decision. She has a gift that might change the world for the better. Even thought the sergeon might have a gift as well, no offense but there are others that can do the same. If saving her life helps save millions of others then I would take that risk. The 17 year old kind of was my other option just because she is young and trying to succeed and why not give her a sencnd chance at life. Maybe with this new heart she will make changes in her life and relaize that she got a second chance. It was a very tough choice between those two. One helps saves lives but there is that chance that she might be wrong and not discover anything. It is a choice that has to just come out of your gut feeling and you have to think about all the different possibilities and ask yourself all these questions. Think about all the people that would be affected with your decision, and how it would impact that person you will be saving. Think about who would want it more, how it would change someones life. I just can not imagine having that decision in my hands and my regards to people that are put in that situation.
Test
I would have to throw out all ethical belief on choosing a person to give this organ too. My goal in this whole process will be to not see one person suffer but instead a entire family suffer if anything were to happen to this person. After reviewing the recipients I would go with the 40 year old teacher Dad of two. After thinking about the possible health I couldn't make a decision on that; so I had to move on to who is going to suffer the most and it's not ethically sound just like within the articles I read on how they choose currently.
Rather it's through a procurement organization or a having money like Steve Jobs to travel to where the organ is located; or perhaps being famous and broadcasting you need an organ and someone single handed you their organ because your famous! Is beyond me. However, I feel that is how I am choosing right now like if it's popular contest not fully understanding all the risk factors for choosing either of these recipients listed.
So I choose by what is present in front of me; I notice he had two children and it didn't give the age of the kids. This Man were to die not only he would lose out on two lives he is shaping but also a community were he serves as a teacher.
I struggled to come to this decision as well... I believe that the 12 year old musician should get the heart. I think that children should get priority over adults. Adults have had longer to live and can prepare for death better than a child can. A child has a lot of potential and I think that they would recover quicker than someone older. A 12 year old is old enough to understand how important it is to follow through with taking the anti rejection medications and following the doctors directions so I feel like the 12 year old musician would be the appropriate choice.
Chelsea Holgate
This is such a hard topic to analyze. The final decision for whom should get the heart transplant, from my perspective would be, the 38 year old scientist close to discovering a cure for AIDS, Chinese woman, no children, lesbian. I find this to be the best option because of her extreme knowledge as well as her future discoveries, which are extremely beneficial to society. Her possible found cures for AIDS could help millions of people and change cellular history for ever. I find that for that fact, here profile fits the candidate for the heart transplant more than the others. I did take here age into consideration, however, here extensive studying and gift of biological understanding is very unique and has the potential to help more people in time.
I think the heart should be awarded to the scientist who is on the verge of discovering a cure of AIDS for the simple reason that she will accomplish far greater things and contribute far more to society than the rest of the patients. There are millions of people who are suffering from the irreversible disease of AIDS and a cure for that disease will change the course of history. For all we know, a person cured of AIDS may have the cure for cancer. It may sound like a far fetched idea, but it's quite possible. All because of the heart given to a scientist who found a cure for HIV, all that is possible. All the patients are in dire need for the heart and none deserves more than the other because they're all hurting and suffering. So the heart cannot be awarded based on the idea that one person needs it more the other because that's simply not true. If we take that out of eqaution, we're left with the question; which one of those patients will give back to the community? Which one of those patients will benefit society because of that given heart? I think it's the scientist and it's not because she deserves it better the rest but the fact that she'll influence the world and may cure AIDS.
I would choose the brain surgeon because of the fact by saving his life i could be saving more than his life. I could be saving many live that he will be able to help when he is better and back to work.
After assessing the seven candidates up for the heart transplant, I decided that the best candidate would be the 38-year-old Chinese woman (#7). I believe that she would be a good candidate because judging by her ethnicity, the majority of Chinese people lead a healthy lifestyle, such as good eating habits and exercise, and she is also at a good healthy age and would maintain the new heart well and maybe for longer than expected, and she would also do great through the surgery and recovery. Judging by her career as a scientist, she most likely has a flexible work schedule and will have time to aid in her recovery. Lastly, she is close to finding a cure for AIDS, which would result in saving the lives of thousands of people, and having a huge positive impact in society. If she does not find a cure, she is “close” to it, which means that her research has show positive results and has probably already created something that would at least help extend the lives of many other people.
The reasons as to why I did not choose the other candidates was for the following:
1. A famous brain surgeon at the height of her career. Single, African-american woman. No children. 31 years old.
African Americans are known to be prone to heart disease. In the end, if this person received the transplant, she would most likely suffer from heart failure again in the near future.
2. A 12 year old musician. Japanese girl. ( require another)
It is estimated that children are more likely to survive longer on a transplant list, so she probably has more time to find another heart. Specially a heart appropriate to her size, that of a child, this heart is an adult heart, which would most likely not have much of a positive effect on her body, since it is still in stage of active growth.
3. A 40 year-old teacher. Hispanic male, two children.
Most Hispanics are prone to heart attacks. He is probably not single, so his kids would have someone to watch over them.
4. A 15 year old pregnant woman. Unmarried, white, no other children.
This woman’s preganancy promotes high risks during a surgery, which could result in damage to the fetus. Also, even if the transplant is successful, initially, her heart wil have to work twice as hard to sustain two bodies at the same time, whichi could cause high stress to the new heart.
5. A 35 year old Roman Catholic priest.
Judging by his career, he is s religious man, and most likely leads a healthy lifestyle and does not have any smoking or drinking habits. He is also of a healthy age to wait for another heart to become available.
6. A 17 year old waitress. White, high school dropout. Helps support her family with her earnings.
She is also of a healthy age, and can most likely wait long for another heart to become available. Even if she were to receive a transplant, this would place her in a long recovery time and would not be able to work and support her family.
This was a very hard topic. However, this is who I chose: A 15 year old pregnant woman. Unmarried, white, no other children. The reason I chose this person is because she is very young and is pregnant. So in turn, two lives are being saved and not just one. I thought about this one for a long time, but I just kept thinking about the poor innocent life of the unborn child. At least all the other candidates were able to live part of their life and who’s to say that they cannot stick it out until another heart becomes available. I think that the pregnant girl would have a lot less of a chance surviving because her immune system is already weakened by the pregnancy.
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