"Rethinking the Ethics of Vital Organ Donations: Current Practices"

Rethinking the Ethics of Vital Organ Donations: Current
Practices

"Our current practices of vital organ donation violate the dead donor rule. This does not mean that we are unethically extracting vital organs from living patients; rather, it means that we need to develop a coherent alternative ethical account of vital organ donation."

From The Hastings Center Report: "Rethinking the Ethics of Vital Organ Donations". Authors: Franklin G. Miller; Robert D. Truog. Published: 12/02/2008

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Robert D. Truog, MD
"Dr. Robert Truog is Professor of Medical Ethics and Anesthesiology (Pediatrics) at Harvard Medical School and a Senior Associate in Critical Care Medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston. Dr. Truog received his medical degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and is board certified in the practices of pediatrics, anesthesiology, and pediatric critical care medicine. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Philosophy from Brown University.

Dr. Truog’s major administrative roles include Director of Clinical Ethics in the Division of Medical Ethics and the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Associate Director of the Office of Ethics at Children's Hospital, Boston, Chair of the Harvard Human Subjects Research Committee at Harvard University, and membership on the Harvard University Faculty Committee of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics.

His academic work has primarily centered on the ethical issues that arise in anesthesia and critical care, and he recently authored national guidelines for providing end-of-life care in the Intensive Care Unit. He lectures widely nationally and internationally. His writings on the subject of brain death have been translated into several languages, and in 1997 he provided expert testimony on this subject to the German Parliament. Dr. Truog is an active member of numerous committees and advisory boards, and has received many awards over the years, including The Christopher Grenvik Memorial Award from the Society of Critical Care Medicine for his contributions and leadership in the area of ethics. In 2000, Dr. Truog also received an honorary Masters of Arts from Harvard University in Cambridge."

Contact Information:
Dr. Robert Truog
Division of Medical Ethics
641 Huntington Avenue, 4th floor
Boston, MA 02115
robert.Truog@childrens.harvard.edu