Adult living-related liver donation: is it ethically appropriate?

[Clark]

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1399-0012.2011.01413.x/abstract

Adult living-related liver donation for acute liver failure: is it ethically appropriate?
Erica M. Carlisle1, Peter Angelos1,2, Mark Siegler2, Giuliano Testa1
Article first published online: 15 FEB 2011
DOI: 10.1111/j.1399-0012.2011.01413.x
Clinical Transplantation
Volume 25, Issue 6, pages 813–820, November/December 2011

Abstract:  Acute liver failure (ALF) results in the annual death of approximately 3.5 per million people in the United States. Unfortunately, given the marked shortage of cadaveric liver donations and the ethical questions that plague utilization of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for ALF, many patients with ALF die before a liver is allocated to them. In this review, we discuss how the consistent utilization of LDLT for ALF could decrease the mortality rate of ALF. Additionally, we examine a key underlying issue: is LDLT for ALF ethically appropriate?