A Generous Gift or Financial Incentive?

In the United States, there are currently 116,608 people in need of a lifesaving organ transplant, and 75,684 people that are currently active waiting list candidates (HRSA, 2017). Between January and September 2017, there have only been 12,211 organ donors (HRSA, 2017) which is far less that the current demand for lifesaving organs. The shortage of donors could lead to an individual looking for outside sources such as the black market to find their lifesaving organ. Offering incentives to persons who chose to donate their organs or those of a deceased loved one is important because it could stop the illegal selling of organs, save the life of someone in need of an organ transplant and benefit both the donor and recipient.

As NBC13.com news points out “everyday seventeen people die waiting for organ transplants.” These deaths could simply be prevented by having a system in place that could provide a service to these helpless individuals. According to this site, there are 120,000 people still waiting for organs, nationwide; 30,000 of them are African Americans. But when it comes down to the issue of free trade of human organs, the majority of American citizens will consider it a controversial and ethical issue. There could be a large group of people supporting each side of this argument. However, only those who want to sell their organs and those who need the

should organ donors be paid in full? A current study finds that organs from paid donors cost less than other alternatives. And could improve patient outcomes. But it does not address moral concerns or the potential for abuse of the system.Because of the National Organ Transplant Act, more Americans have lost their lives waiting for an organ. The law bans almost any non-medical payment to living organ donors. Whether by the government, health insurance companies, or charities. Recipients themselves can refund donors’ travel, residence, and lost wages, which helps but only when the beneficiaries have the means and will to do so. Also, they should not take a deceased person organs. What if they were poor and their family needs money. However,

The supporters of the pro side of this debate (or the side that is in favor of the legalization of organ sales) believe that the amount of willing donors would increase astronomically if they were to be offered a “reimbursement” for their donation (I Gave Away a Kidney; would You Sell One). Because the sale of organs and other human matter has been successful in others parts of the world, in several countries including Iran, advocates for legalization believe that success would be inevitable in the United States as well. Hashem Ghasemi, the head of the patient-run Dialysis and Transplant Patients Association of Iran, encourages the U.S. to pursue organ sales. He says in his country, the transplant list has almost completely disappeared, as

The ethical issue for the majority of people in the U.S. does not seem to be whether donating organs should be allowed, but instead should someone be compensated for their donation. As described earlier, the U.S. has a major shortage of organs and an even greater shortage is found in some areas of the world. However, countries like Iran have found a way to eliminate their shortage completely. “Iran adopted a system of paying kidney donors in 1988 and within 11 years it became the only country in the world to clear its waiting list for transplants.” (Economist, 2011) Although this sounds promising, it is important to look at the effects on the organ donor. In a study done on Iranian donors who sold their kidneys, it was found that many donors were negatively affected emotionally and physically after donating and that given the chance most would never donate again nor would they advise anyone else to do so. (Zargooshi, 2001) Additionally, many claimed to be worse off financially after donating due to an inability to work. (Goyal, 2002) To some, this last set of findings would be enough to supersede the benefit of clearing the organ waiting lists.

single kidney may cost up to $60,000. Meaning if people are really desperate for money they could sell their organs. So this would convince many people that are in need of money. However, there will be more problems if there is a legalization of organ selling. There could be an increase of murder just because people want to sell organs on the black market. One example of organ trafficking dates back to 7 years ago, in July 2009 a person named levy Izhak was arrested for buying organs from weak people in Israel for $10,000 and later selling them to people that really need them for $100,000 in the U.S. This will cause many people to oppose the sales of organ and would make some people donating organs think twice before doing it because they might feel scared that one day they might need it and would have to pay a large amount of money to get what they have given before. Some people think that this idea is bad because organs should not be given in exchange for money because you are saving someone’s life. One thing that really concerns me is that why does money have to

There are more than 120,000 people in the United States that are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant each year. Of that number, many are hoping for one or more of the five organs that can be donated while a person is still alive. Organ donation is the removal of a person’s organ or partial organ, so another person can use it. Donating an organ while alive can save up to eight lives, and it can be done by people donating their organs out of the goodness of their heart. Unfortunately not all organs are donated for the right reasons. Therefore, the selling of organs should continue to be banned in the United States because it would result in health not always being the determining factor.

Not only does reimbursement for organ donation dismantle moral beliefs, but it also takes advantage of the poor. Instead of benefitting the well-being and health of patients, compensation only benefits the government, donors and wealthy patients. In reality, “Prices keep going up and it’s becoming harder for patients because they can’t afford it...The people who are making a lot of money are the investors and the corporations” (Lopez, 2015, p. 3). As the prices for organ transplantation continues to increase, patients are forced to pay more for dialysis while waiting for an organ. If compensation were to begin, patients would also begin to bear new expenses to assist the reimbursement of donors. Ogilvie (2011) believes that, “Despite the good

This would not only reduce the amount of deaths each year of individuals who are on the waiting list for an organ transplant, it would also increase the amount of donors who would be willing to under such a invasive surgery because they will be compensated for their generosity. The most common way that a patient on the organ transplant list receives their organ is from a deceased individual who has agreed to donating their organs before their death, or the family or spouse has agreed to donate the organs of the deceased individual on their behalf. These facts are convincing and has the reader pondering the thought “why do donors not receive compensation?” There are many individuals who believe that there should continue to be absolutely no compensation to individuals who are willing to donate an organ. The topic of exploiting the poor who would justify selling one if not two organs in order to be compensated because they are struggling financially is an argument that is discussed time and time again. This dilemma has resulted in what is known as the black market sale of organs, donors and patients are what make up the black market. You have a vendor who could be a surgeon, or a small company in another country who offers the organ transplants in usually half of the

The article that will be examined is “Vera 's Kidney, Walter 's Money: Desperation, Greed and the Global Organ Trade” (Ginzel, Kraushaar, Winter, 2012). In this article, it features a wealthy 74-year-old man who only had months to live with his failing kidneys. It also features a single mother in Istanbul, who needed money to fly her daughter over but simply could not afford it. Putting the law aside, the old man was willing to pay $10,000 dollars for her kidney. Another article that was found stated, “Studying organ sales: short term profits, long term suffering” (Kahn, 2002) interviewed 350 people who recently sold their organs. “The vast majority reported selling a kidney to pay off debts, but nearly 75 percent said they were still in debt six years later” (Kahn, 2002). Even though organ sales are still illegal here in the U.S, many people are becoming so desperate that they do not mind putting the law aside in spite of saving their own lives. The criteria that constitutes being desperate relating to the legalization of organ sale

Unfortunately, despite these wonderful advances, people who need an organ often have an incredibly difficult time getting one, and only have word of doctors that they will even get on at all. Part of the problem is all of the restrictions placed on donations to make them ethical make it very easy for America’s more criminally minded citizens to make a profit on human tissue (Carney). The system of donating blood, organs, and bones anonymously is not perfect. There is still a desperate need for these commodities, and even though people cannot pay for their donated tissue, they do still pay in the long run. After all, medical services are by no means free, or even cheap. In

The number of people who need organs for transplantation in this country and around the world is unbelievably big. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing more than 123,00 Americans are waiting for an organ to become available and someone is added to the national list every 12 minutes. Unfortunately, there are not enough organs and many of these people waiting will die of organ failure before their number is called. the number published is 22 deaths per day. (UNOS-Data) Most of the time, people think of organ donation after someone dies or a living organ donation of a kidney because you have two. But in other countries, selling organs has become a big thing. According to one study, legally donated organs only made up 10% of the need around the world. (Houser) There are many opinions about the process of selling organs, both on

Organ transplantation is a surgical procedure to replace a failing, diseased organ with a healthier donor organ, such as a heart, liver, kidney, or lung (Organ transplant, 2015). As seen in figure 1. The organs could have failed because of an illness or injury and is replaced with either a living donor or deceased donor it depends on what is needed. The organs that can be successfully transplanted are the

Secondly, the donor would be the only person not benefiting from the donation, so it only seems morally right to give back. The hospital staff are getting paid for their work and the individual receiving the organ may not be getting paid with money, but instead are receiving a very special gift. Third, the increase of organ donations due to a money incentive could potentially make donations safer by driving the Black Market to extinction. The Black Market would no longer be needed if more people are being taken off the wait list because of the increased influx of organ donations.

Organ donation is the only current way for humans to survive when they have vital organs that are shutting down. In today’s society, people can donate blood, a kidney, and part of their liver while they are still alive. People also make the decision whether they would like to have their vital organs donated after they have passed away if they are still viable organs. There has been much debate about whether people or their families should be able to receive financial compensation for organs that they are giving to someone else to save their lives.