Organ transplantation is truly one of the miracles of modernmedicine, saving the lives of many patients and improving thequality of life for many more. Given the ever-increasing gapbetween the number of organs needed and the supply, clinicianshave an ethical obligation to help ensure that the desires ofpeople who want to donate organs are respected. The Departmentof Health and Human Services took up this challenge in 2003,when it collaborated with leading transplantation organizationsto launch the Breakthrough Collaborative, calling on all hospitalsto increase their organ-donation rates to 75% or higher.
Dr. Truog is a professor of medical ethics and anesthesia (pediatrics) in the Departments of Anesthesia and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Division of Critical Care Medicine at Children's Hospital Boston — both in Boston.
