By Sayyedeh Parastoo Vakili
Organ donation and transplantation is one of the most regulated areas of health and science today. Both state and federal government have implemented rules and regulations that provide the safest and most equitable system for allocation, distribution, and transplantation of donated organs. We need a solution to solve the issue of the shortage of human organs available for transplant. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services continuously raises awareness for organ, eye, tissue, marrow, and blood donation – as of today, there are more than 120,000 patients on a waiting list to receive organ transplant. As a solution, scientific innovations, such as 3-D printing and other bioengineering technologies, will ultimately allow hospitals to grow their own organs.
As a bioengineer and professor at Harvard-MIT, one of the areas of research in Ali Khademhosseini’s lab is to try to make tissues outside of the body that mimic human tissue. He is developing “organ-on-a-chip” systems that aim to mimic human response to various chemicals in vitro. The “organ-on-a-chip” is relatively new and has faced some challenges; however, Khademhosseini’s lab believes that these systems are very beneficial not only in increasing better drugs but also connecting these “organs” to the human tissue similar to any organ in the human body. Basically, the ultimate goal is to replace the entire organ with a new developed organ that would assist in regenerating a diseased area. The good news is that such scientific knowledge has outpaced scientists’ understanding of biology, but unfortunately this organ-growing technology is still under construction. In the meantime, scientists are testing and revising different ways to get more use out of the donor organs that they currently have.
Now that we have examined the world of scientific organ innovations, let’s turn the lens towards the law makers and their new regulations with respect to organ donors. According to the Guardian, in January 2017, France enacted a new law that instead of choosing to be an organ donor, individual consent is automatically presumed. In other words, French citizens are now presumed to be organ donors, unless they opt out in writing. In the past family members could object to an organ donation even if the person gave consent before their death, now they do not have that right.
In response to the new French law, the U.S. experts and law makers argued that the U.S. is already more equipped at recovering organs from deceased donors than European countries with the presumed constant law. But, who knows what will happen to the U.S. laws with respect to organ donors under the new administration. In fact, recently, a new law was passed in New York which allowed younger citizens, sixteen and seventeen-year olds, to become organ donors. Before, New Yorkers had to have reached eighteen years of age to be allowed to sign up to automatically donate organs, but now they can enroll at the same time they apply for a driver’s license, a learner’s permit, or a non-driver ID. We just have to wait and see whether other states will follow New York’s newly enacted law or not. Meanwhile, scientists like Khademhosseini are giving us hope that one day technological developments will put an end to organ shortages.
Student Bio: Sayyedeh Parastoo Vakili is a Book Review Editor and Staff Member of the Journal of High Technology Law. She is currently a 3L at Suffolk Law. She holds a B.S. in Psychology and Sociology, and a M.S. in Crime and Justice Studies (MSCJS) both from Suffolk University.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are the views of the author alone and do not represent the views of JHTL or Suffolk University Law School.
