Volume 70 Number 3 May 2003	back to contents

Address correspondence to Rosamond Rhodes, Ph.D., Professor of Medical Education, Box 1108, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One East 100th Street, New York, NY 10029.

Presented at the Issues in Medical Ethics 1999 Conference at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY on December 10, 1999, and updated as of December 2002.

ABSTRACT

Organ transplantation, and living donor organ transplantation in particular, could not occur without society’s trust in medicine and in transplant programs. This paper explains the importance of that trust and shows how the concept can be used to define the moral requirements for structuring organ transplant programs. The discussion goes on to outline what a trustworthy program must be, and to provide a conceptual perspective for drawing lines and setting boundaries for ethically acceptable living donor transplantation. It also explains the morally relevant considerations for accepting emotionally related or unrelated living donors.

KEY WORDS

Living organ donor, organ transplantation, trust, ethical limitations.

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