Ethical Implications in Donor and Recipient Utilization for Liver Transplant

Purpose of Review: The inception of liver transplantation although controversial continues to save daily lives of patients in need. Its successful practice is owed to the various medical advancements to cross the complex immunological and surgical barriers. Herein, we discuss the several ethical dilemmas in organ donation and transplantation with application of ethical principles and reflections from the literature Recent Findings: There are several ethical and moral complexities when evaluating living donors and matching deceased donor livers to recipients. The lack of “one size fits all” turns these complexities into controversies and thus requires a well-balanced ethical approach for better acceptance. Summary: Since the practice of transplant is dependent on the moral behaviors of society, i.e., act of organ donation, it confers many ethical issues that the transplant community has to carefully address. These issues are doubly onerous because every act of transplant has two parties involved: the donor and the recipient. Therefore, transplant physicians have to uphold the ethics of physician-patient relationship for the recipient, fair allocation of donor organs, and demonstrate good organ stewardship for the donated gift of the community, i.e., the organ. Thus, practice of organ transplantation is a unique blend of utilitarian and egalitarian principles while also being equitable and in line with the moral code of the Hippocratic Oath.