生體臟器移植과 患者의 自己決定權 - 日本에서의 論議를 중심으로 -

Live organ transplants have the advantage of being able to avoid the issues surrounding the proclamation of cerebral death as well as the fact that it has a higher rate of survival compared to transplants from a dead donor. However, the situation is that there are far more patients who wish to have transplants than those who provide organs. When looking at the general trend of many nations, there is the tendency to rely on live organ transplants. However, live organ transplants question the morality of its actions and there is the also the issue of how to protect the donors' safety and health. Taking this fact into consideration, this paper attempts to look closely into the discussions made in Japan about live organ transplants and the autonomous decisions of patients. First of all, the background and present situation of live organ transplants are looked into. Then, the general moral and legal issues regarding live organ transplants in major countries are investigated. Finally, based upon the aforementioned cases of medical and social situations of live organ transplants, the autonomous decisions by the donors from a civil law perspective are discussed. In terms of live organ transplant, the 'autonomous decision' is looked at from the following two principles. One is the principle that it is necessary for the patients themselves to make their own decisions for any medical actions. The other is that based on the individual's own decision, nobody is allowed to restrict their personal lives, namely, the way they spend their lives. Korea in particular is also carrying out the 'laws regarding organs and transplants'. Both Korea and Japan are at a position where there is higher percentage of reliance on live organ transplants, making their situations similar. Therefore, the problems that follow could be said to be similar as well. As a consequence, the discussions made in Japan will be a very useful data in solving the synonymous problems in Korea.