An Ethical Reflection on "Mutual Kidney Transplantation" between Different Families / 中国医学伦理学

ABSTRACT

Since Chinese Regulation of Human Organ Transplantation being enforced in practice on May 1,2007,many related issues have arisen and drown our attention.One typical example is the mutual kidney transplantation issue between two families in Hunan province.Based on analyzing the pros and cons in this real event of disputes,the paper discusses ethical issues related to mutual kidney transplantation as follows.Whether or not this exchange approach of organ transplantation can be justified in order to save human lives? Whether or not the mutual transplantation style should be expanded to multiple families? How to handle the gap of organ supply shortage during practical transplantation between two or among several families? How to coordinate the disputes between mutual kidney transplantation and the now in-force legal regulations on organ transplantation?