The Ethical Problem Of Pricing Organs

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.

There are diversified augments in favor of and against organ sales. I will focus on the arguments of Joanna MacKay from her essay “Organ Sales Will Save Lives” and R.R Kishore’s essay “Human Organs, Scarcities, and Sale: Morality Revisited”. MacKay argues in favor of organ trade legalization stating “government should not ban the sale of human organs; they should regulate it. Kishore argues against organ trade legalization stating “the integrity of the human body should never be subject to trade”.

Despite the argument made by MacKay, there are additional actions that need to take place in order to legalize and introduce the buying and selling process of human organs in the United States. People need to be made aware of how many individuals are truly affected by an organ that will not function properly and understand the law that prevents the selling of organs. If a new law is passed, that legalizes the buying and selling of

The debate has raged on for some time now concerning the ethical issues surrounding the trade in human organs. In the US, the sale of human organs for any economical or other benefits is prohibited. However, this law has done little to stop the trade in human organs. There are a number of fundamental issues that the National Organ Transplant Act seems to have ignored. Banning of the trade in human organs has opened up channels that have enabled the black market for human organs to flourish. According to the World Health Organization,

If the selling of organs becomes legal. Who is to say that the donor will not be tempted to sell the organs just because they are in need of money, and lack the understanding of the risks that are involved, such as kidney failure and various renal disorders that could occur? One could easily make a life changing decision under, stressful conditions, especially if that person has high debt or if that person feels that, that is their last hope. Many choices can affect their decision; however each person truly needs to understand the “why” and the effects of donor donation and not just become swayed because of the deposit of monetary funds. A physician who donated his organs at the age of eighteen went on to regret it after doing research and he

In this scenario, the good of saving lives out-weighs the bad of the selling of organs.

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.

The legalization of selling human organs would make the poor even more susceptible to exploitation. The poor would be tempted to sell their organs in order to make money and will cause them to be seen as a source of organs and not as human beings. A form of exploitation that will be used, if selling organs is legalized, is taking the organ without paying the donor either at all or in full. There have been incidents like this in other places around the world such as cases in Bangladesh where, “ kidney sellers in his native Bangladesh and found they typically didn’t get the money they were promised” (Monir Moniruzzaman). This is an example of the serious problem that is present when people allow others to take their organs in exchange for money.

An organ market will lead to exploitation and unfair advantages for the rich and powerful. It will creates injustice between the rich and the poor as the rich will get organs because of their money but to those who is less fortunate people will not be able to have access to these resources. Vulnerable people such as kids, less educated people, or people from third world countries will get exploited and harvested their organs for richer people. When organs are freely tradable, many extremely poor people, especially those who are struggling to survive, will be forced to sell parts of their bodies. Poverty and corruption are underlying themes behind seller giving up their organs as most donors see it as the only option to make money. For most

The most significant problem regarding the sale of organs is the advantage some people are taking of the sellers who need money. Unfulfilled promises or low pays once the transplant is done

Throughout history physicians have faced numerous ethical dilemmas and as medical knowledge and technology have increased so has the number of these dilemmas. Organ transplants are a subject that many individuals do not think about until they or a family member face the possibility of requiring one. Within clinical ethics the subject of organ transplants and the extent to which an individual should go to obtain one remains highly contentious. Should individuals be allowed to advertise or pay for organs? Society today allows those who can afford to pay for services the ability to obtain whatever they need or want while those who cannot afford to pay do without. By allowing individuals to shop for organs the medical profession’s ethical

A system in which would be regulated by an international organization such as the World Health Organization. Regulations would include several very important aspects of organ transplant. First of all there would be a set price for each organ, and a set price to be paid to the donor. This would prevent the wealthy from having more opportunities than those who are less fortunate than others. This would also prevent bidding on organs. The second important aspect of regulation is to have the donor and recipient remain anonymous. This will help protect from later gifts to the donor. At this point in time this type of regulation is very far form being implemented, thus we cannot have an ethical and moral way to commercialize organ sales.

Let image and put your self in a situation that you have a serious disease and your life depends on getting an organ such as kidney or liver, I ensure that you are willing to pay for one if you afford to do it. According to David Holcberg, “and if you could find a willing seller, should not you have the right to buy it from him or her”. In some extend, it is similar to a business or a contract, a person offer to buy something and someone can accept it, certainly both side have intention to do it. Everybody has the right to live and if they are not allowed to buy cure for their sickness, their right is forbidden, isn’t it? Desires to live is the nature of human being, in any circumstances, they still try to live. However when they are waiting for an organ for a long time and this demand is not satisfied so their only hope now is buying from other person and it seems to be too ruthless to forbid them to have the right to make a “contract” to buy a kidney or liver. As the result, if the market for human organs is legalized countless people would be saved and many individuals could have a better life. However, many people argue that it should not be done due to some ethical and social matters.

The first major issue with respect to a legal organ market is the issue of living donors. Gregory extends the issue of living donation of semen, eggs and blood to include organs. This is false equivalency. The human body readily regenerates semen, eggs and blood; it does not regenerate kidneys. Living donors who sell their organs suffer negative health outcomes. While the body is engineered in such a way that kidney capacity

     In the United States, organ sales are illegal, and conducted only on the black market and with either unlicensed or underhanded doctors performing the operations. The law prohibiting selling organs is there primarily to protect a person’s life and “pursuit of happiness.” What happens when people get paid for donating organs? A human being only needs one lung and one kidney; many people would endanger their health by donating organs to get money. A booming industry of organ sales would emerge, with some people stooping to violent means in order to forcibly acquire more organs to sell and get rich off of.