The first section of this book by Petechuk is titled Overview, but its four chapters, which cover history, organ procurement, organ allocation, and advances in transplantation, are all heavily imbued with ethical concerns. The six chapters of section 2, Controversies and Issues Relating to Transplantation, focus very specifically on the ethical issues of buying and selling organs, organ allocation, xenotransplantation, living donors, stem cell transplantation and research, and face transplants. An appendix of primary source documents provides a few brief government documents on various issues. The time line (in an appendix) reveals that the concept of organ transplantation existed as long ago as 400 BCE. A two-page glossary provides greater accessibility for readers without any health science knowledge. The bibliography is current, with entries as recent as 2005. A list of organizations and Web resources completes the text. This is a useful resource….Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates, two-year technical program students, and general readers.

Choice

Medical writer Petechuk explains all the sides of the issues for the informed general reader and beginning students, giving a brief history and describing organ procurement as an example of supply and demand, fair organ allocation, and future advanced anticipated, buying and selling organs, prioritizing potential recipients, animal use and infectious disease, living donors, stem cell transplantation, and the ethics behind face transplants. References given here include annotated primary source documents, a timeline, a glossary, and a list of further reading.

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