By Aidan Appleby
With 121,000 people in the U.S. actively awaiting organs, an increase in the number of organ donations could not have come at a better time. Unfortunately, the reason more organs are becoming available is because of a drug epidemic. According to the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS), the number of deaths from drug overdose rose by 270% between 2006 and 2015. This means that more organ donors have …

By Bobby Thomas
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), drug overdose deaths hit unprecedented numbers in 2014. Most of these deaths resulted from the misuse of prescription painkillers and heroin. In 2014, an estimated 47,000 individuals died, compared to 44,000 in 2013. Unfortunately, a staggering 6 out of 10 deaths is attributable to painkillers and heroin, with opioid related deaths increasing to 14 percent in 2014.
The …

By Princess Chukwuneke
According to the 2014 World Bank statistics, about 22.5% of Iraq’s population of 30 million live in severe poverty. Breadwinners do not earn enough to pay for rent, healthcare, or the needs of their children. Being proud, many Iraqi families refuse to beg for food. As a desperate solution, they turn instead to selling their kidneys.
Baghdad and Kurdistan are two prominent organ trafficking hubs, with illegal gangs offering up …

Perspectives from Working with Doctors Without Borders
On October 2nd, 2013, over 200 University of Iowa Students, Faculty and Community members gathered to learn about the medical situation in Syria during the war. Dr. John Lawrence was invited to speak about his recent surgical mission in Syria with Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). This free lecture was an opportunity for students and community members to hear first-hand what medical professionals …

By Maria Coluccio
Last month, the Russian Constitutional Court published a ruling that upheld the legality of harvesting organs from a cadaver without the family’s permission. The ruling was a response to a lawsuit over the harvesting of a deceased Moscow student’s organs without the family’s consent. Alina Sablina was killed in a car accident in January 2014, and her parents were shocked to discover that several of her organs had …

By Princess Chukwuneke
Transnational surrogacy hardly fits the win-win narrative that is perpetuated by the media over time.  In this article, the author describes her interviews with different parties involved in the surrogacy process – egg donors, surrogates, surrogacy agents, and physicians – in Ulhasnagar, India, a breeding ground for women bearing the children of foreigners until the transnational surrogacy ban in October 2015.
The article raises important issues. Does the ban of transnational surrogacy …

By Maria Coluccio
In Bengaluru, a group of infertile women await clearance for a life changing procedure that will allow them to bear life of their own. These women suffer from a rare disorder called MRKH (Mayer Rokitansky Kuster Hauser) syndrome, which causes their reproductive systems to be underdeveloped or absent, and they are unable to carry a pregnancy. However, womb transplants give these woman, and many others who suffer from …

Global Bioethics Initiative (GBI) is dedicated to fostering public awareness and understanding of bioethical issues, and to exploring solutions to bioethical challenges.

Through its events and activities, which include annual summer school programs on global bioethics, GBI seeks to keep the international community, policy decision-makers, the media, and the general public informed and aware of important bioethical issues. Such awareness is essential for making informed decisions and fostering public debate. Using …

By Maria Coluccio
At the time of birth, females have approximately 2,000,000 immature eggs and cannot produce anymore throughout their lifetime. A large majority of these eggs will die out throughout the course of a woman’s lifetime. Only approximately 400 out of the %0.02 will mature naturally. Woman who are unable to conceive due to having no eggs or poor egg quality are able to become pregnant through ovum donations. As …

By Lara Balick
On March 14th, Aamir Malik, a 27-year-old cattle trader from Pandoli village of Gujarat, India, reported to the police that he was allegedly cheated into selling his kidney to repay his debt. Malik had told his friends that he was looking for an interest-free loan to pay off his debt of Rs 1 lakh (~$1500). Malik claims that on February 12th his “friends” brought him “drugged and unconscious” to …