ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part deals with the formidable allocational issues raised by organ transplantation technology and addresses considerations of both efficiency and justice. It explores concrete proposals for dealing with organ substitution technology on two important levels, the individual health care organization and the individual state, and discusses the diffusion of the technology on the national level. The part also discusses the attempts of an individual state to control the dissemination of organ transplantation technology and especially its attempts to make its health care system both fair and efficient. It offers some criticisms of the task forces plan. The part also deals with the most fundamental theoretical questions regarding society's obligation to provide access to this costly technology and with the practical aspects of the issues and the implications of their views for health care in general.
