Transcript Organs Transplantation from a Theravada Buddhist Perspective

Organ Transplantation from a
Theravada Buddhist
Perspective
Soraj Hongladarom
Department of Philosophy,
Chulalongkorn University
Outline of Talk
Current situation in Thailand on organ
transplantation.
 Main question: How one finds a
Buddhist solution to the ethical problem
arising from it.
 A step beyond ‘secular’ and ‘traditional’
ethics.
 This means Buddhism is re-interpreted
under the new light.

Current Situation in Thailand
The Thai Medical Council has a rather
strict rule for pronouncing brain-death,
which is similar to that found in the
West.
 However, the people in general do not
disapprove of brain death criteria. But
when the person is their own close
relative, then they do not seem to be
that consistent.

A Current Affair

A famous teenage singer had a road
accident and fell into a ditch full of dirty
water. At first he recovered well from his
external injuries, but later suffered from a
severe headache.
 It was found that his brain was infected by
a rare form of fungus and fell into coma.
 The doctors tried to save his life through
repeated (5 times at the latest count) brain
surgery.
Current Affair (contd.)
His situation resulted in a flood of
teeagers from all over the nation to the
hospital where he stayed. A ‘fan club’
spontaneously emerged aiming to give
moral support to the singer.
 The doctors; however, said that the
singer’s brain was eaten away so much
by the fungus that at best he would be a
‘sleeping prince’ if he survived.

The Singer Affair (contd.)

Nonetheless, this seemed to give
reassurance to the singer’s fans in that
they believed that he was still ‘alive.’
 Right now he was in a stable condition.
Latest news was that he was out of the
ICU, was able to breathe by himself
sometimes.
 The doctors said they might be able to put
his skull back to him some time soon.
The doctors and the singer’s parents had a
slim hope (I don’t know if they were realistic
or not) that the singer might one day be able
to get up and sing for the Thai teenagers
again.
What does this tell us?

When asked about a person in abstract, an
average Thai may not object to the brain
death criteria.
 But when the person is a well known
personality, such as a teenage singer, or most
importantly their own loved ones, then he or
she starts to think otherwise.
 However, when the person lies in the
comatose stage for a long period of time,
then the people start to change their minds.
Attitudes toward Transplantation
Thai attitudes toward transplantation
also are interesting.
 In the past, the Red Cross Society had
to convince people that donating their
cornea after their death would not mean
that they’d be born blind in the next life.
 Recently a novel in Thailand was
published dealing with the negative
effects of cloning and transplantation.

Attitudes (contd.)

The Vajiraprakarn Hospital case:
 Doctors
harvesting a kidney from a patient
suffering from road accident without his
consent or knowledge. The patient later died
from the injuries suffered from the accident,
but his relatives found out later that his kidney
was missing. The Medical Council found the
doctors guilty and revoked their license. The
head of the team had a lot of business
investment in the hospital.
Attitudes
It seems that for Thai people, harvesting
organs would be generally all right if the
person has clearly indicated his or her
wish through wills or consent forms.
 But the issue becomes very serious
when there are business motives
involved.

Toward an Asian Element in
Bioethics


Since Asia is a very large continent, it is
very difficult to find some elements that are
common to all parts.
As for Thailand, I would propose that one
looks at Buddhism, since most people are
Buddhists. The idea is that people of other
religions can find their own elements from
their respective religions. Only that the
norms should come out more or less
congruent.
Buddhism and Transplantation

According to Theravada Buddhism, the
body is just matter. It needs to be washed
regularly otherwise it becomes very smelly
- “a bag of shit.”
 The aim is to transcend the body through
meditation and understanding of the
Dhamma.
 Thus at first sight there does not seem to
be a serious objection to brain death or
organ transplantation.
Buddhism and Transplantation
However, as the singer’s case
illustrates, people are not detached from
the belief that the body is the person too
easily.
 And one might see the other side of the
issue: Why should the potential organ
recipients want it so much, since it’s all
bags of shit any way?

Is it a selfish act to get organs from
somebody so that one can live longer,
only to enjoy the material elements of
life?
In the end this decides whether organ
transplantation is unethical according to
Theravada Buddhism.