Organ transplantation in people with unhealthy lifestyles

Abstract

Organ transplantation is a technologic marvel that can prolong life, improve the quality of life, and reduce the total health care costs in people who have end-stage renal, heart, and liver disease. Allocation of scarce resources has social, moral, and ethical implications. Some causes of end-stage disease are preventable. The question arises as to whether the limited resources should be allocated to people who could have prevented their disease. The moral and medical arguments for organ allocation are discussed.