Organ Donor Controversy
0:15-0:20
“22 News reporter, Julie McDonald, spoke with people in Western Massachusetts about the controversy leading up to that surgery.”
The “controversy” leading up to this lung transplant surgery could not have been as controversial as this reporter is making it seem to be.
0:46- 0:56
“There shouldn’t be any division of age. It should be if someone is in need of that support, especially in this country, where we can do that kind of thing immediately. There should be no question about it. They should be doing that right away.”
The man that was interviewed regarding this case is making this claim. However, he is not aware of the rarity of organs of any age. As unfortunate as it might be, there are not enough organs for everyone who needs one. How the organ donation waiting list is set up is complicated. It is not as simple as “I get an organ as soon as I need it.”
1:04- 1:08
“People told 22 News, it’s a difficult questions no matter how you look at it.”
Organ donation is a difficult topic to discuss. There are so many questions, such as who should get them, who should be on the top of the wait list, and should there be a pediatric list and an adult list, and everyone has a different answer. This claim is absolutely correct.
1:13- 1:28
“Well there was someone who didn’t get it, right? She took a lung that she wasn’t gonna get, that probably an adult would have. We don’t know, we’ll never know who that person was that didn’t get that lung. Maybe it was a father or mother with other children. You just don’t know those questions.”
This man’s opinion is completely valid. By suing to get a lung, she did take someone else’s lung. This person could have been sicker than she was, but since she and her parents took legal action, she got it.
1:29- 1:35
“There could have been an adult that was waiting longer, but may not be as sick as the youngster.”
This claim illustrates just how complicated the organ donation system is. There are so many conditions for a person to receive an organ, and they each have their own conditions as well.
1:35-1:41
“Sarah’s family said their experience highlights a national issue: too few organ donations.”
It is definitely an issue in today’s healthcare system. There are too few organs to donate and too many people waiting to receive them.
1:41- 1:47
“And now some fear the courts could be flooded by desperate families hoping to win their own life saving organ.”
This case now set a precedent for other families wishing to gain organs for their sick children. It may happen that courts will be flooded with organ donation cases. Unfortunately, making a new system for organ donations might be just as difficult and time consuming.
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Counterintuitive Fall 2022 
Just a reminder that we have a conference scheduled for 2:50 today, Taylor. See you then.
This is nice work, Taylor. You’ve had to wrestle with a few considerations to come to your conclusions. You and I don’t agree on everything, but you’re either very bright, or you spent quite a while thinking about this subject, or both. As much as I will criticize your writing until I’m happy with it (never), I won’t question your intelligence and thoughtfulness.
Thank you. May I have an even deeper feedback on my writing, please?
Feedback provided. —DSH
Hey, Taylor!
0:15. Why do you say so, Taylor? There’s nothing in the quote that indicates the subject has been decided.
0:46. The man being interviewed may indeed not know that organs are scarce. But what does he need to know about the age of donors and the age of their recipients that would make a difference to his position? Do kids need to receive organs from children? Can adults be helped by receiving a child’s organ? If there’s no logic to distinguish between donors or recipients of different ages, then how should we explain that who gets an organ first DOES depend on age?
1:04. Why should the number of questions make the topic hard to discuss? You say it’s “difficult to discuss,” but the news report says it’s “a difficult question,” meaning a question difficult to answer, not a question difficult to discuss. The questions you pose are in fact the difficult ethical proposal questions
—who should get
—who should get first
—should there be two lists
unasked:
—if there are two lists, do we give adult organs to adults and pediatric organs to kids, never any other way?
—if there are two lists and we alternate, one list or the other will turn over faster and improve the odds of one group
—but only if they can both use any available organ
1:13. Let’s start by saying fairness to satisfy everyone is impossible. Nature isn’t fair for starters. It gives some patients blood type AB; others O, making some recipients good matches and others not. When people intervene to “improve” Nature’s choices, blood type can’t be the only consideration. Some organs could probably go to anyone (let’s say 0). Some organs could probably only go to a small group (let’s say AB). Should the AB recipient group have to wait for an AB organ, since their odds are SO much better than anyone else’s of receiving an AB organ, to try to balance out their advantage for AB by making them ineligible for the more plentiful O?
1:29. So far the interviewees have factored age, length of wait, degree of illness, and number of dependents. (I’ve added the medical complication of blood type.) We also haven’t considered how useful the organ will be to the recipient (another two years of bad health, or a fresh start in a young, otherwise healthy body?). And how about geographic convenience? Organs are only viable for a few hours. Remote recipients lose that tie-breaker.
1:35. That problem could be so easily solved it breaks my heart that we haven’t done it yet.
1:41. If they are flooded, it’s their own fault. Judges are not obligated to entertain suits about who deserves an organ if they decide they don’t have the jurisdiction to decide such matters.
Complicated business, isn’t it, Taylor, evaluating claims?