Artificial organs

Not many would give up a second chance at living, even though it might be
at risk. Artificial transplants is a controversial issue, as it can be either beneficial or
harmful. Artificial transplant is a surgery where the surgeon inserts an artificial
organ into the patients body. An artificial organ is a man made device that is
implanted into a human to replace a malfunctioning organ. Artificial organ can be
anything from the heart to your liver. Willem Kolff, is the first man to ever make an
artificial organ, as he invented the first artificial kidney machine. He was motivated
to make an artificial organ, when he was treating a patient and realized that if the
patients urea could be removed until the kidneys recovered. When Kolff first
announced his theory, everyone thought it was taboo, and disregarded it, but in the
mid-1950s it became a respectful research area due to the American Society for
Artificial Internal Organs support. Despite the controversial issues revolving around
artificial transplants, they would still be a viable alternative to human organ
transplants.
Signing a piece of paper can save others who are in agony. One organ donor
can save more than seven people, but only about fifty percent of people have
enrolled to organ donation even though all religions support organ donation. More
than a million people await an organ transplant each year, but due to the shortage
of organ donations, eighteen people die every day while waiting for the right organ.
Just because organs are in such high demands, people start committing crimes such
as organ trafficking. There are three categories of organ trafficking. The first
category is when the traffickers force victims to give up their organs. The second
category is to swindle the victims who agreed to sell their organs for money, but not
paying the right amount to them or not paying them at all. The last category is to
trick vulnerable people such as the homeless, illiterate or migrant workers who
cannot understand English properly to blackmail their organs after they sign a
paper. According to WHO (World Health Organization), the level of organ trafficking
of just kidneys rose to 10,000 trades. Just because the organs are rare, they are
worth a lot of money. With artificial organs, there will be a lower demand for organs
which will decrease the rate of illegal crimes that are happening all around the
globe.
Regarding the legal issues of artificial organs, a lot of people have different
ideas of it, but as of now it is currently legal. Even though it is legal, it is still
undergoing a lot of process and is not complete yet. Companies must get an
approval from FDA before making their products public. However, most companies
get denied. FDA, short for Food and drugs administration examines and approves
items of medicine use. By having FDA approve the company, they are able to
produce their artificial organs and place it in the public. Disregarding the fact that
people who produce artificial organs might transfer over to the black market for
illegal trafficking, everything about artificial organs are legal. Even though artificial
organs and transplantations are legal, numerous people are concerned about the
ethical aspects of the artificial organ.
Most people would have to be in a desperate situation to accept artificial
organ transplants. Because the patients are frightened that they might be a guinea
pig for the artificial transplants, they use the Nuremberg Code which protects the
patient when they are human subjects during experimental research trials. Even if
the patients agree to do the artificial transplants, due to how experimental they are,
the patients are susceptible to injuries and death. Albeit the surgery is successful,
there is not a guarantee that there would not be any side effects after they have
successfully transplanted the organ. However, because the organ transplants are
currently at an experimental state, if the scientists perfect the procedure over the
years with practice, it will be a completely safe and accepted to the public. Some
people may disagree to artificial organs because putting a man-made material
inside a human body is unethical, most people and even all religions support
artificial organ transplant so if people continue to mend their views, they will
become more understandable.
The patients are not the only ones who suffer through the hardship of an
organ failure. Beside the patients in pain, their guardians stand by their side
supporting them unconditionally. Although they might be able to assist the patients
emotionally no problem, they might have a hard time supporting the patients
financially. Even if they do have the ability to financially support them, they will
constantly have to anguish about the possibility of the artificial organ failing inside
the patients body. As the artificial organs are yet in a test state, not complete, the
supply demand for the artificial organs are extremely low. There also arent many
companies that are involved with this area as most are denied by the FDA. As
science and technologies evolve, more companies will be able to have a deeper
understanding of the area, and produce artificial organs more efficiently and
productively. People who have the benefit of having a lot of money, are able to
abuse the system of artificial organs. Even if they have unhealthy habits such as
smoking, drinking, eating unhealthy, and lack of exercise, they are able to just get a
fresh artificial organ and replace it with their damaged kidneys. Even though this
might sound immoral, by them paying money to the companies who produce
artificial companies, the companies are able to use the money to further develop
the artificial organs for them to be able to be friendlier to the lower and middle class
people.
Artificial organ contains some DNA from the patients when they extract it
from their body. This could be seen as cloning which is illegal and banned from this
world. Scientists are currently experimenting artificial wombs which can be seen in
many different ways. Politics have banned cloning due to few reasons: Over
population, identity Crisis, not enough funding, diminishing value of life, and it is
against the law of nature. However, if you have a different point of view, for the gay
community, they would support the idea of an artificial womb as they will be able to
bear children now. Even though it is considered a sin in the religions to artificially
fertilize a baby, if people are satisfied with the result, they should be given the
opportunity.
Today is a materialistic world where money can literally buy you anything.
Artificial organ is a device that costs a fortune. As they are extremely difficult to
make, and the demand is low because only people who need it will buy it. Artificial
organs arent a permanent organ that stays inside your body. It is a temporary
replacement until the hospital finds someone who his willing to donate their organs
or died which matches your immune type system for another transplantation which
will then complete everything. The price of an artificial heart can range from
$100,000 to $300,000, which is an insane amount of money for a normal person. As
it is an amount which a normal person cant handle alone, they will have to borrow a
loan, or get support from their family or friends. Even after you get the artificial
organ, you will need to get constant care from the hospital and your family as you
will need to get the organ checked perpetually. When technologies advance, the
time will come where the artificial organs become cheaper and popularized. Even
though people live longer than they used to a long time ago, people are generally
unhealthier and have diseases such as diabetes, obesity which affects their organs.
With a lot of peoples organs being damaged, the demand for the artificial organs
will go up and will be popularized.
In spite of all the disputed discussions about artificial organs, they are still
more beneficial to humans than they are harmful to humans. It is true that the
researches for artificial organs are not yet complete and that it needs improvement.
However, if the day where the research is complete, and is publicized to the world,
humans will basically be unable to die from diseases, as they can just replace the
affected organ with the artificial organ. For artificial organs to become popularized,
it will take a long time before they are perfect. Even if they are gifted in the world to
now be usable, misusing the gift that is given will lead to a terrible result.
References:

Artificial Organs

http://syntheticorgans.yolasite.com/legal-and-ethucal-issues.php

http://catherinealdrinbio.wixsite.com/artificial-organs/ethical-legal-and-social-issues

Organ Trafficking: An International Crime Infrequently Punished

Susan Scutti- Susan Scutti Susan Scutti is a reporter, novelist, and loather of self-
descriptions. read more - http://www.medicaldaily.com/organ-trafficking-international-
crime-infrequently-punished-247493

Illegal Organ Trafficking Poses A Global Problem

Ami Cholia - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/24/illegal-organ-
trafficking_n_244686.html

Doctor Willem Kolff: Physician who invented artificial hearts and kidneys
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/doctor-willem-kolff-physician-who-
invented-artificial-hearts-and-kidneys-1675714.html

10 Reasons Why Human Cloning is Bad for Society at Large

Deeksha Rawat - http://listcrux.co/10-reasons-why-human-cloning-is-bad-for-society-at-large/

The artificial heart. Costs, risks, and benefits--an update.

D Lubeck - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10311835

Artificial Organs

http://syntheticorgans.yolasite.com/legal-and-ethucal-issues.php