You are a transplant surgeon who is preparing to do a heart transplant on a young mother. The donor has been identified and the organ is being harvested right now. It should be to you within 12 hours. The timing was good. You do not believe that the mother would have lived much longer without the transplant. You know that there are a number of people on the transplant list that will not be so lucky. When you are discussing the procedure with her husband, you realize that she has recently been exposed to her young daughter who has just come down with chickenpox. She has never had chickenpox before and you are concerned. If you convey this information to the transplant team, she will not receive the transplant. The heart will go to the next match on the transplant list. There is no real reason to expect that she will become ill. However, if she does, it is not likely that she will be able to overcome the virus with the anti-rejection drugs she will be given. She could become very sick and even die. If she does, then the transplant will not go to another. What are the ethical issues that you face?

What should you do?

What would you do?