Are You Kidney Me? Every ten minutes a new person is added to the waiting list for organ transplants. With only three in one thousand people dying in a way that allows for organ donation, twenty-two people die each day waiting for a transplant. Almost all U.S. adults support organ donation, but less than half are actually signed up as organ donors (Organ Donation Statistics). Currently, the people desperate for organs or money turning to illegal hospitals and black-markets for buying and selling organs. Though the members of organ trafficking are rarely exposed and therefore the size of the problem is unknown, something has to be done for the people in need of organs now. The near future should hold a piece of health care technology that creates organs, combatting the unfortunate statistics of organ donations and the organized crime of trafficking organs. …show more content…
As of 2016, 81.8% of the organs people are waiting for are kidneys (Organ Donation Statistics). Morally, the stem cells that would be taken for printing or replication should be used with consent, meaning they are not taken from a baby, alive or deceased. Of course, extensive research would have to be done before using 3-D printed organs for transplants and be FDA approved, but if people are desperate enough to turn to the black-market, using those people for clinical trials would be more productive and actually
Organ transplantation is a term that most people are familiar with. When a person develops the need for a new organ either due to an accident or disease, they receive a transplant, right? No, that 's not always right. When a person needs a new organ, they usually face a long term struggle that they may never see the end of, at least while they are alive. The demand for transplant organs is a challenging problem that many people are working to solve. Countries all over the world face the organ shortage epidemic, and they all have different laws regarding what can be done to solve it. However, no country has been able to create a successful plan without causing moral and ethical dilemmas.
Since the WHO is not, in any way, going to lift the ban, and one of the most efficient ways to increase the supply of available organs for the thousands of people on organ waiting lists is to make some form of donation and selling legal, other options must be sought-after. By combining two opposing viewpoints it is possible for a whole new approach to this rapidly growing problem to transpire, for there may be more agreeable aspects than what meets the eye.
Today we are in great need of a solution to solve the problem of the shortage of human organs available for transplant. The website for Donate Life America estimates that in the United States over 100 people per day are added to the current list of over 100,000 men, women, and children that are waiting for life-saving transplants. Sadly enough, approximately 18 people a day on that list die just because they cannot outlive the wait for the organ that they so desperately need to survive. James Burdick, director of the Division of Transplantation for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services confirms, “The need for organ transplants continues to grow and this demand continues to outpace the supply of transplantable organs”. The
The demand for organ donors far exceeds the supply of available organs. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) … there are more than 77,000 people in the U.S. who are waiting to receive an organ (Organ Selling 1). The article goes on to say that the majority of those on the national organ transplant waiting list are in need of kidneys, an overwhelming 50,000 people. Although financial gain in the U.S and in most countries is illegal, by legalizing and structuring a scale for organ donor monetary payment, the shortage of available donors could be reduced. Legalizing this controversial issue will help with the projected forecast for a decrease in the number of people on the waiting list, the ethical concerns around benefitting from organ donation, and to include compensation for the organ donor.
Dying painfully in a hospital bed is not the way anyone wants to go. Unfortunately for many people, it is a reality. Thousands of people a year end up dying while waiting for an organ that could save their lives. While on the other side of the world, thousands of people die a year, but from infection when an organ is forcefully taken from them to sell on the black market. There are two sides of the organ donation list, and both can end in death. This paper will discuss the shortage of donated organs and the issues with the current donation system. It will also discuss the black market for transplant organs and possible solutions to viable organ shortage. The focus of this paper will be on transplant kidneys as they are the most desirable organ for buyers and sellers.
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
My exploration of this topic led me to an article on HuffingtonPost.com. The article is “How 3D Printing Could End The Deadly Shortage of Donor Organs” by Macrina Cooper-White. In said article,
“Illegal trade in kidneys has risen to such a level that an estimated 10,000 black market operation involving purchased human organs now take place annually or more than one an hour” (The Guardian, 2012). People that are in the need of an organ and willing to participate in illegal activities will either send a broker or go directly to another country where people are lacking in the knowledge of the situation or have an extreme disability and buy an organ rom that individual. In most cases a broker will promise the seller a great amount of money, but in the end they will only receive a fraction of the money that was promised and for some they receive no money. If a broker cannot buy an organ they will steal one. “However, when the organ, like many other valuables that cannot be bought, it is stolen resulting in flagrant violation of human rights” (U.N.O.D.C, 2000). It is currently illegal to buy or sell human organ in the United States and many other countries. People involved with the operation of human trafficking will be charged with a trafficking offence. “For a trafficking offence to be established must be evidence of an illegal act (recruitment) followed by an illegal means (coercion) for the purpose of exploitation (organ harvesting), one in ten organ transplants are illegal” (U.N.O.D.C, 2000). Illegal sales of organs are increasing the rate of criminal
Every day some dies after waiting years on a transplant list. The National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 says that in the United States, the sale of organs is illegal. Some believe this act may be preventing thousands of people from getting the organs that will save their lives. The truth is every day someone dies and their organs could be used to help others and everyday a life of one and the livelihood of another could be saved. The reasons for allowing the sale of organs is very simple to understand. It can help others financially, save money on medical expenses and most importantly, save lives. Critiques believe this would be a mistake causing spur of the moment decisions, and illegal obtain these organs for sale. With the use of regulation, these doubts can be laid to rest. Before the problem can be solved, the problem has to be identified.
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.
Organ Trafficking, also known as transplant tourism is the illegal trade of human organs for transplantation. (UNOFC,2016). On the other hand, organ donation is the act of transplanting healthy organs and tissues from one person to another (Medline Plus,2015). It is no secret that organ supply cannot meet the rising demand, and because of that a global organ transplant black market has grown and flourished(Glaser,2005). Although there has been some effort to establish a global organ transplant resolution by the World Health Assembly and many countries have established a ban on organ trafficking. The implementation of these bans remain weak and ineffective. There also tends to be loopholes in these laws that encourage corruption(Glaser,2005). To reduce or eliminate organ trafficking, laws should be thoroughly explained strengthened to discourage many different interpretations. To play its part in decreasing organ trafficking, the USA should enact the presumed consent law where the opt-in system is amended to the opt-out system.
In a world where life expectancy has increased tremendously over the last century because of new technology and medical procedures, we find humanity ever pushing the boundaries on what it can do to prevent loss of life where possible. One example is the area of organ donation and transplantation. However, unlike many other technologies or procedures which can be built, manufactured, or learned, organ transplantation requires one thing that we can’t create yet: an organ itself. Because our increased life span causes more people to require a replacement organ when theirs starts to fail, the demand has far outrun the supply and the future only looks to get worse. “Between the years 1988 and 2006 the number of transplants doubled, but the
In addition, surgeons have learned how to keep increasingly patients alive longer and how to make more people eligible for transplants. Still, there are shortage of organs donation. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), a non-profit, scientific and educational organization, organizes transplant registration. 3448 people died in 1995 because organs were not available for them in time. A third to a half of all people on waiting lists die before an organ can be found for them. This shortage raises several difficult ethical problems. How should the limited supply of organs be distributed? Should donors be encouraged to donate by the use of financial incentives? Opponents of the sale of organs point out that the inevitable result will be further exploitation of poor people by the
In the United States, there are over one hundred thousand people on the waiting list to receive a life-saving organ donation, yet only one out of four will ever receive that precious gift (Statistics & Facts, n.d.). The demand for organ donation has consistently exceeded supply, and the gap between the number of recipients on the waiting list and the number of donors has increased by 110% in the last ten years (O'Reilly, 2009). As a result, some propose radical new ideas to meet these demands, including the selling of human organs. Financial compensation for organs, which is illegal in the United States, is considered repugnant to many. The solution to this ethical dilemma isn’t found in a wallet; there are other alternatives available
The legalization of organ sales has been proposed as a solution to two distinct problems. The first is the problem of illegal organ trafficking and the second is the problem of inadequate supplies of organs available for transplants. Gregory (2011) outlined the case for legalizing organ sales by arguing that the current shortage of organs fuels a black market trade that benefits nobody except criminals. He further argues that such a move would add organs to the market, thereby saving the lives of those who would otherwise die without a transplant, while delivering fair value to the person donating the organ. There are a number of problems with the view that legalizing the organ trade is beneficial. Such a move would exacerbate negative health outcomes for the poor, strengthening inequality, but such a move would also violate any reasonable standard of ethics, by inherently placing a price on one's life and health. This paper will expand on these points and make the case that we should not allow people to pay for organs.