TY - JOUR
T1 - Ethical and legal implications of elective ventilation and organ transplantation
T2 - "medicalization" of dying versus medical mission
AU - Frati, Paola
AU - Fineschi, Vittorio
AU - Gulino, Matteo
AU - Montanari Vergallo, Gianluca
AU - Di Luca, Natale Mario
AU - Turillazzi, Emanuela
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - A critical controversy surrounds the type of allowable interventions to be carried out in patients who are potential organ donors, in an attempt to improve organ perfusion and successful transplantation. The main goal is to transplant an organ in conditions as close as possible to its physiological live state. "Elective ventilation" (EV), that is, the use of ventilation for the sole purpose of retrieving the organs of patients close to death, is an option which offsets the shortage of organ donation. We have analyzed the legal context of the dying process of the organ donor and the feasibility of EV in the Italian context. There is no legal framework regulating the practice of EV, neither is any real information given to the general public. A public debate has yet to be initiated. In the Italian cultural and legislative scenario, we believe that, under some circumstances (i.e., the expressed wishes of the patient, even in the form of advance directives), the use of EV does not violate the principle of beneficence. We believe that the crux of the matter lies in the need to explore the real determination and will of the patient and his/her orientation towards the specific aim of organ donation.
AB - A critical controversy surrounds the type of allowable interventions to be carried out in patients who are potential organ donors, in an attempt to improve organ perfusion and successful transplantation. The main goal is to transplant an organ in conditions as close as possible to its physiological live state. "Elective ventilation" (EV), that is, the use of ventilation for the sole purpose of retrieving the organs of patients close to death, is an option which offsets the shortage of organ donation. We have analyzed the legal context of the dying process of the organ donor and the feasibility of EV in the Italian context. There is no legal framework regulating the practice of EV, neither is any real information given to the general public. A public debate has yet to be initiated. In the Italian cultural and legislative scenario, we believe that, under some circumstances (i.e., the expressed wishes of the patient, even in the form of advance directives), the use of EV does not violate the principle of beneficence. We believe that the crux of the matter lies in the need to explore the real determination and will of the patient and his/her orientation towards the specific aim of organ donation.
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U2 - 10.1155/2014/973758
DO - 10.1155/2014/973758
M3 - Article
C2 - 25126582
AN - SCOPUS:84929057171
VL - 2014
JO - BioMed Research International
JF - BioMed Research International
SN - 2314-6133
M1 - 973758
ER -