Few contemporary issues question the nature of life and death, families and communities, altruism and self-interest, and individual rights and public good as dramatically as does organ donation and transplantation. Transplantation raises profound and intriguing concerns about the interplay of medical needs, state authority, and bodily integrity. Although advances in medical technology and the development of immunosuppressant drugs have made transplantation an almost routine procedure in many parts of the world, the actual availability of transplantable organs remains inadequate to the need....

Few contemporary issues question the nature of life and death, families and communities, altruism and self-interest, and individual rights and public good as dramatically as does organ donation and transplantation. Transplantation raises profound and intriguing concerns about the interplay of medical needs, state authority, and bodily integrity. Although advances in medical technology and the development of immunosuppressant drugs have made transplantation an almost routine procedure in many parts of the world, the actual availability of transplantable organs remains inadequate to the need....