Biomedical Example - Health Care Ethics and Social Responsibility

Biomedical Example

Jennifer Gettemeier

University of Phoenix

HCS/335 Health Care Ethics and Social Responsibility

Paul Loreto

September 14, 2015

Biomedical Example

Professionals make thousands of decisions every day.  Most do not warrant lengthy forethought. However when challenged by important decisions with no clear answers it is easy to feel overwhelmed. One person’s decision gave Mickey Mantle the gift for a chance at a fresh start with his life.         

The Seven-Step Decision Model

Step 1

Mickey Mantle was a famous baseball player for the New York Yankees in the 1950’s and the 1960’s. He played for them for 18 years and was voted the American League's Most Valuable Player three times. After retiring in 1969, he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. Mantle had years of hard drinking and was diagnosed with cirrhosis, hepatitis, and cancer of his Liver. Then in 1994 Mantle entered The Betty Ford Clinic. One year later his medical condition was deteriorating, and doctors stated he would need a liver transplant to survive. The normal waiting period for a liver transplant in the United States in 130 days. However, the Baylor Medical Center had a liver for Mantle in only two days.

Step 2

Depending on the article that is read the Mickey Mantle case could have ethical issues. There are articles that state that there is absolutely no evidence that he jumped ahead of others on the waiting list due to his celebrity status. Then some articles say the complete opposite. The fact is that in 1995 the United States had a 130-day waiting list for liver transplants. The Baylor Medical Center transplant team found him a liver donor in only two days. Ethically is this fair to the patients on the waiting list that were before him, no. Due to privacy we do not know the details of how long or the severity of the other patients. The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) stated, "There is absolutely no evidence that he was not the illest person in his region of the country on the day he got his liver transplant,” ("125 Can Well-Connected People Like Mickey Mantle Get Transplants Faster? ", 2014). 

Step 3

The UNOS uses considering factors for the organ allocation process. These factors include time waiting, tissue and blood type matching, size matching, and severity of illness. Provided that these rules are followed for all patients regardless of race, color, creed, notoriety or financial status then everything would be fair and equal. When looking at the facts in the Mickey Mantle case and using the three-step ethics model these are the questions asked. Is it legal? The waiting list at the time was 130 days, and he received him in two. The popular opinion is that he received the liver due to his status as a hero baseball player. Is it balanced? The doctors at the time estimated a 60 percent chance for a three-year survival rate. Typical liver transplant patients have a 78 percent chance for a three-year survival rate. As a doctor would one not give the organ to the person with the best chance of survival? The last question is how does it make me feel? Honestly knowing that he is a recovering alcoholic, the survival rate, and all the other health issues I do not feel he should have received the liver. I think the reason he did receive it was because he was a baseball legend, and that is completely unfair.