NOTA: The Dangers Of Organ Sales

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

In the article Organ Sales Will Save Lives, Joanna MacKay states pertaining to the middle man, “In the illegal kidney trade, surgeons collect most of the buyer’s money in return for putting their careers on the line. The brokers arranging the procedure also receive a modest cut, typically around ten percent.” This situation is usually the case. If the government would legalize the selling of organs, and set up a program, everyone could make money from this and the patient would receive the organ they so desperately need. MacKay also states, “If the entire practice were legalized, more of the money could be directed towards the person who needs it most, the seller.” People will continue to purchase and sell organs off the black market, so legalizing it and making it a government ran organization, everyone could gain from the transplant. One may argue that doing so would exploit people who live in poverty because they would not be able to afford the transplant. They often fear that people would rather sell their organs rather than donate them. Sadly, this is usually the case. According to organdonor.gov, “An average of 18 people die each day waiting for transplants that can’t take place because of the shortage of donated organs.” This may not benefit everyone in need of a transplant, but it cannot do more harm than

Sale of human organs have been illegal in the U.S. since the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 was established, but illegal sale of organs still exist on the black market. The black market is where desperate wealthy people can make contact with unscrupulous greedy criminals to secure themselves a kidney or any other type of human organ they may need. The idea that a person’s organ can be purchased online or through a dealer like a car is unethical and objectionable. Potential causes for the thriving black market and criminal activity is the dwindling supply of donated organs and the higher demand for organ transplants, along with the desperation of both the donor and the organ recipient.

There was no possible way that every single dying person would get a second chance at life; thus, the organ-based black market developed and thrived off of the desperation of those with no hope of obtaining an organ. Decades ago, there were situations where people were drugged and they woke up in filthy conditions to find an organ missing from their own body. Children and babies were commonly kidnapped for their parts and unjustly robbed of their entire life ahead of them. The United States Information Agency denied that these situations ever existed to the public while knowing the opposite was true (Columb, 2015). Illegal organ sells and transplantation was not acknowledged by the country; therefore, there was nothing to stop the flourishing black market. Situations like these were borne from the realization that the ill can get organ replacements from others, even if it costs dearly to those who they take from. The criminals had no major obstacles preventing them from doing so. Despite the crime that ensued once people realized they could transplant organs, this specific period of time was more beneficial than detrimental. It has led to organ donations and has given the gift of hope to those who used to think their only choice was to die along with their slowly deteriorating body.

While illegal in most countries, a black market exists as what seems like an easy solution for those willing to pay large sums of money to receive human organs from those often times in financial need. As stated previously, there is a massive shortage of organ donors, leaving many people on waiting lists

The need for organs is a growing dilemma amongst America and countries all over the world. Thousands of people sit on waiting lists in hopes to receive a new organ never knowing if they will actually receive one before their delicate organ gives up. Although many people are willing to be donors upon the time of their own death, the shortage of organs hangs over the patients and families who deal with the reality of an organ shortage every day. One solution that has been proposed is allowing people to be able to sell their own organs in order to meet the need that is out there now. Constructing a program that allows the sale of an organ would lead to a decrease in the black market for organs, an increase in organ availability, and create a greater awareness of the need for more organ donors.

The brokers of the black markets tend to prey on low economic areas because these people are uneducated and are desperate for money. The brokers knowing the situation tend to exploit the donor in every transaction that is made. In order for the black market not to be able to exploit the donor, organs sales should be legalized because then the donor could receive better medical attention, guarantee the donor is compensated fairly, and help shorten the currently long waiting list.

Organ sale—for example, allowing or encouraging consenting adults to become living kidney donors in return for money—has been proposed as a possible solution to the seemingly chronic shortage of organs for transplantation. Many people however regard this idea as abhorrent and argue both that the practice would be unethical and that it should be banned. This entry outlines some of the different possible kinds of organ sale, briefly states the case in favor, and then examines the main arguments against.

In the United States “There are currently 123, 378 people on the organ transplant wait list and of that number, approximately 21 will die today.” (McAndrews et al., 2016, pg. 182). People all over the world is waiting patiently for an organ donor for their loved ones or for themselves. Organ sales is an on-going process in the United States, as well in other countries. However, in the United States and some countries it is illegal for a person to sell their organs to anyone for money. Organ sales is when someone is selling their organs for money, and it is either to help them with their living situation, such as paying their bills, and putting food on their table. Organ sales have been a big problem in society, because individuals that are living in poverty in poor countries gets taken advantage of because of their living situation. These individuals will sell their organs to help get themselves or their family out of poverty. In the United States, Arab Emirates wanted to sell his kidney in-order-to help his family of two wives and six children living at their grandparent’s home. Another case is in India, “The Tribune, India reported that a 42-year-old Nepalese man named Man Dhoj Tamang sold one of his kidneys to pay off his debts and buy a piece of land.” (Bakdash, 2006, para. 3). Organ sales in the United States are immoral, because they target the individuals living in poverty, causes organ or human trafficking, and creates a black market that is unfair.

Over the past years the demand for organs has been increasing more and more every year. All these people that have place on wait list for months and years waiting for match. Due to very low amount of organ donates. Many of these people on the wait list either do not make or look for other ways to obtain organs. Due to the high demand of organ transplant people have taking advantage of this need to an illegal market of selling Organs. “There is a serious shortfall in cadaveric organ donations, with only 40-60% of U.S. families consenting to organ recovery.” (Burrows, 2016) With the demanding need of organs people have found themselves looking into other countries and the black market. The Black market has been around but seeing the huge demand for organs many of these “20000 other wiling vendor”(Campbell, 2016) illegal sellers stealing from the poor

With the increasing need of organs for medical treatment, illegal organ black markets become more rampant. Under such circumstances, should the government legalize the sale of living human organs? In Joanna MacKay’s essay Organ Sales Will Save Lives, after analyzing from both receivers’ and donors’ perspectives deliberately, she makes her own credibility to conclude that since there are potential donors and potential sellers that have a strong eager to trade kidneys, legalizing the sale of human organs would bring a win-win agreement for donors and receivers, so government should legalize the sale. However, in the article, she overstates the benefits of monetary compensation for sellers, and ignores the continued presence of exploitation of poor sellers, the risks of organ donations other than kidney and the moral attitudes of sellers. As a result, if the sale of organs were legal, organ sellers would not be benefiting as much as she states. Her arguments about the bilateral reciprocal results for both donors and receivers would be untenable by these implicit problems

The problem we face today is that there are too many people in need of organs, but not enough people that are willing to donate. People have started to find other ways to help save their loved ones on the black market because the chances of receiving organs are too low from the NOTA. Monti states that, “The presence of NOTA in the United States, and similar legislation in other developed countries, has not prevented the development of a thriving black market for procurement of organs from live donors.” The NOTA prevents people putting a price on organs by sentencing the people that disobey to prison or fining them thousands of dollars. The sad thing about that act is that so many lives could be saved and opportunities for both people receiving and giving organs are being missed daily.

The debate over whether getting compensated for the donation of organs is just stirs up moral, religious, and ethical opposition as well as scary hypotheticals. There are many factors to think about when introducing a new market; the biggest being corruption. An unregulated market for the sale of organs opens the doors to potential exploitation and fuels the fire for the black market of organ trafficking. The concern on ethics relates to human dignity. Selling human organs encompasses the possibility of dehumanizing people, essentially forcing them into being seen as a commodity, property, or price. These voiced thoughts address some of the negative possibilities, but nonetheless, the possibilities are just possibilities not absolute effects. The organ shortage continues as the need of organ donors rises. Amid this crisis, there has been a push to persuade more people to donate their and their loved one’s cadaveric organs. However, these efforts seem to be futile, because the gap between supply-and-demand swells each year. The top priority is to increase the number of transplants thus decreasing deaths and ending the suffering of people on dialysis. From all the opposition and speculation, people tend to forget that organ transplantations save lives. They are so blinded by their moral and religious values

In the United States “There are currently 123,378 people on the organ transplant wait list and of that number, approximately 21 will die today.” (McAndrews et al., 2016, pg. 182). People all over the world is waiting patiently for an organ donor for their loved ones or for themselves. Organ sales is an on-going process in the United States, as well in other countries. However, in the United States and some countries it is illegal for a person to sell their organs to anyone for money. Organ sales is when someone is selling their organs for money, and it is either to help them with their living situation, such as paying their bills, and putting food on their table. Organ sales have been a big problem in society, because individuals that are living in poverty in poor countries gets taken advantage of because of their living situation. These individuals will sell their organs to help get themselves or their family out of poverty or help with any depths they owe. In the United States, Arab Emirates wanted to sell his kidney in-order-to help his family of two wives and six children living at their grandparent’s home. Another case is in India, “The Tribune, India reported that a 42-year-old Nepalese man named Man Dhoj Tamang sold one of his kidneys to pay off his debts and buy a piece of land.” (Bakdash, 2006, para. 3). Organ sales in the United States are immoral, because they target the individuals living in poverty, causes organ or human trafficking, and creates a black market

In the more recent decades, the problem with organ sales has become a much larger issue than it has ever been before. The reason organ sales has become a problem is because the amount of organs available compared to the amount of organs needed is extremely low. “Every year the shortage of human organs grows worse. Between 1991 and 2001, for example, the waiting list for an organ transplant more than doubled from under 30,000 to just over 80,000 (Tabarrok).” Since the shortage is growing, many wealthier patients decide to outsource for their treatment. The organ brokers, or the middlemen, find poor, fairly healthy people in need of some extra money and this is how the market is created. This creates a vicious cycle; now that people are aware that they can make money from selling organs, they become less willing to freely donate them.