When we (medical humanist and bioethicists) discuss medical ethics, vulnerable populations, human rights violations, and medical inequities, many people perceive these issues as being echoes of a distant past or relics of the road to medical progress. For other people, however, the reality of these issues are alive, well, front, and center. The most stark example of this (as of January 2023!) is Massachusetts Bill HD.3822. This bill proposes the harvesting of organs and bone marrow from inmates in exchange for time off of their prison sentences. Not only is this coercion but it is in keeping with a history of exploiting and experimenting on prisoners. Is this an issue of biological citizenry, utilitarianism, or something else altogether? What do think?
The Bill: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/HD3822also:
A Massachusetts bill could allow prisoners to swap their organs for their freedom
| MIT Technology Review |
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| A Massachusetts bill could allow prisoners to swap their organs for their freedom |
| Doctors routinely ask would-be donors about their health, well-being, and ability to look after themselves and whether they smoke or take recreational drugs. These factors will affect not only whether their organs are suitable for donation but how likely they are to recover well from the procedure. |
| View this on MIT Technology Review > |
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#medicalethics #humanrights #vulnerablepopulations #transplants
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Imanni Sheppard, PhD
Co-Director of Bioethics and the Medical Humanities, Assistant Professor, Med. Ed. Facilitator
Carle Illinois College of Medicine
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