Organ Transplantation: Medico-Legal Considerations

This paper will examine the legal problems that arise in obtaining human organs from both living and non-living donors with special emphasis on the issue of consent. It also will address such issues as when is a donor really dead ? Public policy questions concerning experimentation, the ethics of transplantation, and the sale of human organs will be reviewed. Finally, some suggestions will be presented which may, hopefully, contribute to a more adequate supply of human transplant material