Ethical and Legal Considerations Flashcards

A potential living donor is found to have a previously unknown serious health condition during evaluation. What is the coordinator's primary ethical obligation?

Answer: Disclose all findings to the donor and ensure they understand the implications for their own health

The coordinator must ensure full disclosure to the donor because the incidental finding directly affects the donor's health and decision-making.

Which principle underlies the prohibition on paying donors for organs in the United States?

Answer: Justice, to prevent exploitation of economically vulnerable populations

NOTA prohibits organ sales primarily to prevent exploitation of economically disadvantaged individuals who might donate under financial duress.

A patient on the transplant waiting list is found to be non-compliant with follow-up appointments. Ethically, how should this factor into transplant candidacy decisions?

Answer: Non-compliance should be assessed in context and used as one factor in the overall evaluation

Non-compliance is a legitimate clinical concern affecting post-transplant outcomes, but must be assessed contextually and not used as a sole or punitive criterion.

What is the legal status of an advance directive specifically authorizing organ donation in a patient who later presents as a potential donor?

Answer: It is generally given legal weight under the UAGA as an anatomical gift declaration

Under the revised UAGA, a donor's documented anatomical gift declaration is legally binding and takes precedence over family objection.

A coordinator learns that a recipient's family has offered a financial gift to the donor family after transplant. What is the appropriate response?

Answer: Report the arrangement to the OPO, as it may constitute illegal valuable consideration

Post-donation financial transfers may constitute valuable consideration for organ donation, which is prohibited under NOTA.

Which of the following scenarios best illustrates a conflict of interest for an OPO coordinator?

Answer: A coordinator whose spouse is on the transplant waiting list at the hospital where they work

A coordinator whose family member is a transplant candidate at their hospital has a direct conflict of interest affecting objectivity in allocation.

A pediatric patient's parents refuse organ donation on religious grounds, but the patient (age 16) expressed a wish to donate. What ethical framework should guide the coordinator?

Answer: Parents retain full legal authority, but the coordinator should document the patient's expressed wishes and facilitate ethics consultation

Minors lack full legal capacity to authorize donation, but their expressed wishes are ethically significant and warrant ethics committee involvement.