Organ Transplantation
Having developed in the crucible of scarce resource allocation for nearly 60 years, the organ transplantation field has much to teach us about balancing equity with utility in the distribution of life-saving resources. Beyond the core dilemma of just allocation, organ transplantation demands that we agree on criteria for death before taking organs, decide how much risk living donors can fairly assume, identify means for increasing the supply of organs, and devise an acceptable reimbursement plan for post-transplant medical care. Contributors to this month’s issue describe ethically relevant ways to approach each of these challenging tasks.