Raising the Dead: Organ Transplants, Ethics, and Society

by Ronald Munson

Perhaps no medical breakthrough in the twentieth century is more spectacular, more hope-giving, or more fraught with ethical questions than organ transplantation. Each year some 25,000 Americans are pulled back from the brink of death by receiving vital new organs. Another 5,000 die while waiting for them. And what distinguishes these two groups has become the source of one of our thorniest ethical questions.
In Raising the Dead , Ronald Munson offers a vivid, often wrenchingly dramatic account of how transplants are performed, how we decide who receives them, and how we engage the entire range of tough issues that arise because of them. Each chapter begins with a detailed account of a specific case--Mickey Mantle's controversial liver transplant, for example--followed by careful analysis of its surrounding ethical questions (the charges that Mantle received special treatment because he was a celebrity, the larger problems involving how organs are allocated, and whether alcoholics should have an equal claim on donor livers). In approaching transplant ethics through specific cases, Munson reminds us of the complex personal and emotional dimension that underlies such issues. The book also ranges beyond our present capabilities to explore the future possibilities in xenotransplantation (transplanting animal organs into humans) and stem cell technology that would allow doctors to grow new
organs from the patient's own cells.
Based on extensive scientific research, but written with a novelist's eye for the human condition, Raising the Dead shows readers the reality of organ transplantation now, the possibility of what it may become, and how we might respond to the ethical challenges it forces us to confront.

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book at the library while trying to find another book with a similar title. This one looked interesting so I thought I'd try it. For a nonfiction book that deals with some pretty heavy topics, it was surprisingly fun and easy to read and very informative. (It helps that Munson, a philosophy professor, has previously published three novels.) Munson begins each chapter with a case study: a man in congestive heart failure, a baseball star with severe liver problems, the unexpected birth of an anencephalic infant, among others. He then discusses the issues surrounding each case and generally concludes with his own opinion. Some of the subjects he tackles include:

*the scarcity of human organs available and how recipients are selected
*the dead-donor rule (the donor must be dead before vital organs removed) and how it relates to individuals who are brain dead
*when is someone really dead?
*anencephalic infants as donors
*the buying and selling of organs
*exploitation of mentally handicapped individuals as donors
*treatment vs experimentation
*xenotransplantation and infectious disease
*stem cell research

The book also discusses how the science of transplantation has developed through the years with some fascinating accounts of early experimentation into using organs (mainly from animals) to help keep people alive.

What I appreciate about this book is how fairly and logically Munson portrays the many sides of an issue and his willingness to accept multiple opinions. Which is so refreshing! I love reading a book where I can choose what to believe instead of being told what to believe. In his discussion on stem-cell research, which can be a hot-button topic, Munson says: "We are bound to respect individuals in a pluralistic, democratic society, even when we disagree with them. Respecting them means (in part) not forcing them to renounce their beliefs, not requiring them to be "re-educated" to induce them to change their beliefs, and granting them the freedom to advocate their beliefs and criticize the beliefs of others."

[Annie Goulart · Rating 5 out of 5]

FASCINATING!!!

[Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good overview of the ethics involved in organ transplants. How to define death, whether to use children or the mentally disabled as living donors, paying for organ transplants, using embryonic stem cells, etc. The author definitely has an opinion about all of these that he is not afraid to share, which is not a bad thing, but at times I found he didn't defend his position well enough. In the chapter on paying for organ donations, for example, he pretty much just comes to the conclusion that more good than harm would be done by allowing it without really explaining his basis for believing this. Michael Sandel makes a much better argument against it in in his The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering.

[Edward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the book is slightly dated (published in 2002)considering how quickly medicine and medical technology changes, I found this book to be a good starting point for contemplating the ethical issues behind organ donation. I only rated this book three stars because it is clear that the author is completely supportive of organ donation and ends many topics with implications that you can overlook the ethical issues when considering how many people can be saved.

Nevertheless, the author writes a good survey of the issues central to organ donation and transplantation including chapters on the newborn baby organ transplantation, animal transplantation and chimeras, and growing organs using stem cells. While I didn't agree with all the conclusions, the book definitely provided food for thought.

[Ageena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have given it more than 3 stars if the author had not ended the book with a lame argument of we must work on embryonic stem cell research because we just must or the magic won't happen. Great book right up until the last chapter, then the author is in serious need of a good reading of the Tower of Babel account in the Bible and a review of several Spider-Man movies about regrowing limbs because lizards can. Utopian fantasies about curing all ills and relieving all suffering has no place in real world decisions about how to proceed with caring for people who are ill and suffering.

[Deborah W · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't finish this.