Abstract

Organ transplantation is a medical procedure that presents stunning possibilities in saving and improving the lives of people who are ill and suffering (Tilney 2003). Although organ transplantations in this sense are ethically commendable things to do, the procedure has presented doctors, the law, and policy makers with a series of problems that have engaged medical ethics ever since the first transplants were carried out about half a century ago (Munson 2002). The ethical issues can roughly be grouped under four headings.