Kidneys For Sale Miriam Shulman Summary

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.

Selling organs is a rising problem in the healthcare community, government and morality. Organ sales has become the topic of discussion for numerous reasons. Some of which being lowering the wait time on the organ transplant waitlist and taking advantage of the financially disadvantaged. This issue affects many people on many different levels, some people morally or legally but mostly importantly medically. What this basically comes down to is: “Who are we to judge what people do with their bodies?”. The answer to this question lays in many different sources. The simplified answer is no we can not tell people what they can and can not tell other people what they can and can ot do with their bodies.

In the essay " Kidneys for Sale: A Reconsideration" by Miriam Schulman, kidneys are fair in our lives. The writer talks with important things in our lives related to our organs specificly kidneys. Everyday almost 17 people die when they wait for a suitable organ. In 2011, in United States, kidney transplants were about 15,417. They had a healthy way to transplant kidneys to other people. As they got it tested wheather if they can accept it or not. After transplangt there has been seen no harm. Ninty percent of people got kidneys from a living- donor and 82 % of people from died-donor. When they get it from poor people, they remain still alive at least five years. Actually the poor people sell their kidneys.

Paying people for giving their kidneys would dramatically increase the number of donors and save many more lives as opposed to waiting for people to donate their organs out of the kindness of their heart and expect nothing in return. MacKay appeals to a person’s logical nature when she states that money rules people, in which it very much so does. The money that could be gained from legal organ transactions is immense; MacKay states that it is in the ballpark of $25,000. MacKay’s solution would not only legalize the selling of organs, but also make it regulated by the government, eliminating many people’s fears of the possible consequences of legalization.  She also argues how it would be easier to control the lawful sale of organs as opposed to the unlawful sale.

In “Organ Sales Save Lives”, the author argues for the legalization and regulation of selling human organs, specifically kidneys, to those who need them. Her reasoning is that the laws forbidding this practice have enabled a black market that is harmful to both buyer and seller of organs. MacKay states that with no legally enforceable contracts and dubious procedural standards both parties in these transactions expose themselves to unnecessary risk. She claims that buyers can wait up to 10 years before receiving a kidney, with many dying before then, and sellers often do not receive fair compensation. MacKay believes that we do not have the moral right to try to stop those who live in abject poverty from selling a part of their own body to

How would it feel to sell kidneys for money rather than just donating them? One of the many articles that Miriam Schulman, an assistant director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, has written is “Kidneys for Sale: A Reconsideration”, which was published on the Markkula Center Website in April 2012. What this article talks about is how there is a shortage of kidneys and people are passing away every day because of not being able to get a kidney. There are a few ways to fix this problem and one of the most controversial ways to solve this problem is to let people sell their kidneys to people who need them. The intended audience for this article would be adults who feel that a kidney market would be considered wrong and people who are considering donating a kidney.

“Ailing, rich patients are buying kidneys from the poor and desperate in burgeoning black markets. Clandestine kidney-sellers get little medical follow-up, buyers often catch hepatitis or HIV, and both endure the consequences of slap-dash surgery” (“Psst, Wanna . . . ” 15). This dangerous alternative provides one example of why the current organ donation system needs to be revised. Another example is that some patients pay to register with internet sites that try to help find organ donors. One site, Matchingdonors.com, charges a lifetime fee of $595 (Postrel 124). Not only do patients spend unnecessary amounts of money on these sites, many who find donors get rejected by hospitals. Hospitals fear that strangers designating a recipient may receive some sort of compensation for their donation (Postrel 124). The refusal of sick patients provides just another reason why the current organ donation system needs to be altered.

All throughout the United States, many people deal with failures. Some happen in society, some happen within a household or family, but some happen within in one’s body. Organ donation is a procedure where a donor donates a specific organ to a recipient. The donor giving the recipient an organ can either be living or deceased. According to Livescience, “the number of people on the waiting list has soared upward increasing from 31,000 in 1993 to 101,000 in 2008.” “The success rate for organ transplantation is between eighty and ninety percent”(LiveOnNY). Knowing these statistics, organ donors must be paid for their donation because it can get more people off the waiting list, money could increase the number of living donors, helps the

As days turn into weeks, weeks into months and months into years, the initial hope begins to fail as one is knocking on deaths door. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services reports, “an average of 18 people die each day waiting for transplants that can't take place because of the shortage of donated organs” (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2013). An article in The Penn Center guide to bioethics states, “One of these is a child or a baby. These deaths are especially tragic because many of them could be prevented if there were more organs available” (Caplan, 2009). It must remain a frightening matter to realize that one’s days are numbered and devoid of a transplant one will have to leave behind loved ones, incomplete business, and unpaid bills for others to acquire. Frustration and anger must attack the hearts of those helplessly watching as loved ones watch their spouses, children, parents, and friends start to fade away. As their hope dwindles and desperation turns into anger at the realization that death is preventable, many turn to alternative methods to obtain much-needed organs. Therefore, while laws insist that altruism is the only way one is to obtain an organ a black market for organs has manifested itself. The black market

The sale of organs is becoming a big thing in not only the United States but other countries as well. Many people believe that people should not sell or give away their organs. The selling of organs has become a problem. Many people do not go the legal way of selling organs. They sell them on the black market as well as under the table with none licensed doctors. The doctors that do perform the harvesting of organs should be licensed with insurance in case of malpractice. Money should not be dangled in front of the poor. This creates desperation for money without the afterthought of the person’s health or complications that could come up in the future. There

The first objection is from autonomy, which indicates that the typical suppliers of the market only sells his or her organ because they do not have any other way to support themselves or their family (Pietrobon, 2016). Regulation is a violation of autonomy, where the donation tradition does not violate autonomy at all (Pietrobon, 2016). In defense of regulation, evidence is given that shows 96% of living voluntary (uncompensated) donors make the decision to give an organ under emotional distress and desperation to help a loved one (Pietrobon, 2016); implying that neither compensated or uncompensated donors are given but only one option as well. Both the donor and supplier are both responsible for the welfare and betterment of their respective

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.

Organ donation is a sensitive, heartbreaking worldwide predicament. There are currently over 80,000 people waiting on organs. Regrettably, the criteria for donating organs is rigorous, as well as tedious and strict. Furthermore, several ailments “such as having HIV, actively spreading cancer, or severe infection” would exclude an individual from being able to donate organs (WebMD, 2015). In order for someone to be a donor they must be between the age of seventeen and their early seventies. They also must be a compatible blood type. (University of Maryland Medical Center, 2015) Sadly, recipients are dying by the thousands waiting for matches. The legalization of organ sales have been swept under the rug and overlooked for several decades due to the ethical concerns that accompany it. Unfortunately, the longer the issue is not discussed thousands of children, woman, and men will continue to die. Substantial compensation for organs and tissue is needed. The lack of available organs has led to not only the illegal harvesting of organs but even the murders of innocent individuals as well. Moreover, what could the possible repercussions be if organs were legally sold? A drastic change such as how organs are distributed could positively affect the lives of thousands waiting for a donor. In addition, there is a global dilemma, the scarcity of organs is the source of the surplus surge of the selling and stealing of organs illegally. Some people feel the only way for them to continue

Proponents of financial compensation for organ donors argue that it’s legal to be paid for donating reproductive material, and they suggest that organs should be handled in the same manner. The obvious difference, however, is that inability to conceive a child isn’t life-threatening. Healthy organs for transplant are limited, and recipients must be carefully selected to ensure that the transplant is successful. Imagine the moral chaos that would ensue if organs were sold to the highest bidder.

Surprisingly, nearly 10 percent of 10,000 English patients, who are on the waiting list for organs transplant, dies each year before they obtain an organ (Bates, 2011). While this number tends to rocket in not only England but also worldwide range, almost all the government still keep passing numerous policies to restrict the supply of transplant organs. Typically, they have long prohibited trafficking human organs regardless of proposals for reform. As a further work on this issue, the article “Sales of Kidneys Prompt New Law and Debate” from the book “Topics for Today” (Smith and Mare, 2004) continues providing an insight into the controversy over legalization of commercial transactions in human organs, specially, kidneys. In my opinion,