Organ Transplantation

Every day, newspapers and television news programs present stories on the latest controversies over healthcare and medical advances, but they do not have the space to provide detailed background on the issues. Websites and weblogs provide information from activists and partisans intent on presenting their side of a story. But where can students - or even ordinary citizens - go to obtain unbiased, detailed background on the medical issues affecting their daily lives? This volume in the Health and Medical Issues Today series provides readers and researchers a balanced, in-depth introduction to the medical, scientific, legal, and cultural issues surrounding organ tranplants and its import in today's world of healthcare. Organ Transplantation is organized to provide readers with easy access to the information they need: Section 1 provides overview chapters on the background information needed to intelligently understand the issues and controversies surrounding organ transplants, such as how organs are procured and who determines who gets an organ. Section 2 offers capsule examinations of the contemporary issues and debates that provoke the most heated disagreements and misunderstandings, such as controversies over who deserves to get an organ, and the concerns over xenotransplantation Section 3 includes reference material on organ transplantation, including primary source documents from important players in the debates, a timeline of important events, and an annotated bibliography of useful print and electronic resources. This volume in the Health and Medicine Today series provides everything a student requires to understand the issues involved in organ transplantation and provides a springboard for further research into the issue.