Legal and ethi̇cal aspect of organ and tissue transplantations

Organ transplantation is a treatment option in life-threatening failure of a number of vital organs. The great advances in the technology of organ preservation, immunosuppression, and surgical procedures have contributed in preserving life. However, these advantages have raised major ethical, politic, and legal problems in the field of organ transplantation. One of the major limitations toward organ donation is shortage of donor organs. In this thesis; ethical and legal aspects of organ and tissue transplantation are discussed. Main ethical issues related to organ donations are the determination of death, allocation of scarce resources, property of body, respect for autonomy in donation decisions, organ procurement from living donors and paid organ donation. The current practice of organ transplantation largely depends on diagnosis of death by neurological criteria. But, the debate over whether donation after brain death donors are truly dead have been endure till now. Donation after cardiac death raises a number of specific ethical and legal issues; including potential or perceived conflicts of interest, treatment withdrawal processes, uncertainty in time of death, and consent. About living organ donation, paying people to donate their organs is one of the most contentious ethical issues being debated at the moment. Organ trafficking is defined as organized crime and prohibited by international body. Organ transplantation has been practiced since 1968 in Turkey. Spesific law about it is in effect since 1979. The new Turkish Punishment Law, which has been accepted in 2004, has acts prohibiting organ trade. In the part III of thesis, other countries' law about organ transplantation are exemplified and compared to the ones in Turkish law; and organ trade crime in Turkish Punishment Law is discussed. Keywords. Organ transplantation, medical ethics, law, organ trade crime