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Should Alcoholics be entitled to Liver transplants, ethics?

I've been following the Phil Mitchell alcoholism storyline on Eastenders. We discussed this in college the other day.

Phil is a chronic alcoholic who as a result is suffering advanced terminal liver failure and his only lifeline is a liver transplant. However he is refused even getting onto the transplant list unless he has been totally alcohol free for over 6 months.

Is this fair as Alcoholism is an illness disease in the same way that hepatitis is? Alcoholics don't want to be alcoholics so in one way its not as simple as saying the damage is self inflicted, such addictions could be considered mental health issues as well as a physical disorder that means stoping drinking results in both physical and mental illness.

So should alcoholism be treat as an illness and transplants allowed for those with terminal liver failure if they can stop drinking less than a month before being put onto transplant list?
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Original post by Ambitious1999
I've been following the Phil Mitchell alcoholism storyline on Eastenders. We discussed this in college the other day.

Phil is a chronic alcoholic who as a result is suffering advanced terminal liver failure and his only lifeline is a liver transplant. However he is refused even getting onto the transplant list unless he has been totally alcohol free for over 6 months.

Is this fair as Alcoholism is an illness disease in the same way that hepatitis is? Alcoholics don't want to be alcoholics so in one way its not as simple as saying the damage is self inflicted, such addictions could be considered mental health issues as well as a physical disorder that means stoping drinking results in both physical and mental illness.

So should alcoholism be treat as an illness and transplants allowed for those with terminal liver failure if they can stop drinking less than a month before being put onto transplant list?


It's an interesting one. Would you also deny somebody with depression who has just lost a lot of blood due to self harm a blood transfusion because they caused the damage themselves? Mental health problems are out of the persons control just as much as any other illness. And on both sides you can have people who do not help their situation, like not going to therapy or not taking thetir prescribed medication.
Although there are people who are arguably more deserving of a trasplant as there is no debate and they just got real suckish luck, somebody with alcoholism is ill. I guess I migh put a stipulation that they need to attend rehab or show some sort of evidence ey are treating or intend to treat the condition. Otherwise frankly the organ is likely wasted on them.
Simmilarly i'd think that people who are termanilly ill and will not have long regardless of weather they get a transplant or not should have less priority than those who are more likely to live a full life with the transplanted organ.

It sucks to have to weigh people's lives against one another like that but unfortionately there just aren't enough organs to give on to everybody. Hopefully that will change so this won't need to be such a distressing matter, but until then you do need to think about who gets what organs are available.
But if you give them a liver, they might just abuse it. Meanwhile, you've got someone who has serious liver disease who needs a liver just as much who isn't abusing alcohol.

It's not unreasonable, imo, to expect someone to take reasonable steps to ensure they're well enough before giving them an organ.
Original post by Tiger Rag
But if you give them a liver, they might just abuse it. Meanwhile, you've got someone who has serious liver disease who needs a liver just as much who isn't abusing alcohol.

It's not unreasonable, imo, to expect someone to take reasonable steps to ensure they're well enough before giving them an organ.


Agreed.
no, because they had the moral agency regarding their liver issues - it was their own choice to consume too much alcohol. if somebody willingly or recklessly harms themselves, it's their own fault and therefore their own burden.

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