Organ Transplant #1

 My topic will be on whether or not doctors should manipulate the organ transplant list in order to help their patient receive an organ. In order for a person to move up on the waiting list for an organ transplant, their disease must be more severe than others. A doctor can help a patient move up on the list by giving them more intense treatment to make it seem like their disease is more severe. However, this can come into conflict with the pillars of non-maleficence and justice. First of all, by increasing the strength of treatment, this can negatively affect the patient and could possibly end up killing them. The doctor has to risk inflicting some harm on the patient just for the chance to receive and organ and survive. Second of all, when a doctor helps their patient move up on the waiting list, by effect they are bumping others down on the list. Some people may have been patiently waiting for an organ so it is not just for doctors to scheme their patients way up on the list. A patient's right to receive an organ can conflict with them receiving treatment that can end up killing them. A doctor's responsibility to their individual patient can conflict with the responsibilities of other doctors for their patients. Finally, a doctor manipulating their patient's spot on the list can conflict with the organ transplant organization's responsibility to give the next available organ to the person who actually needs it the most.