ABSTRACT

The preceding chapter concluded with an overriding sense that there is a compelling right to xenotransplantation. This right is borne of society's obligation to provide optimal satisfaction of the human need for health. Notwithstanding the strength ofaxenotransplantation right, it is not absolute. The right is penned in by the proviso that its exercise be consistent with public health. The rights of the individual do not always trump the interests of the collective. In a health care context, this is evident in that even the near-sacrosanct right to confidentiality, which harkens back to Hippocrates, may be superceded, if necessary for the protection of public health. Consequently, it falls to this chapter to assess how much risk is appropriate to impose on the community for the good of the individual. The reciprocal question is equally vital: how much risk of ill health is appropriate to impose on the individual to assuage the public health fears of the community?