UPDATE: Also see this follow-up post on a 22 year old alcoholic denied a transplant and now dead.
Doctors proposing that selling your organs need not be illegal: This article will make you think. It tells the story of a somewhat schizophrenic homeless American man, recruited to sell a kidney in Houston, and along the way provides a great summary of some of the ethical issues around organ sales, and suggests that there’s a growing liberalization of thinking around the issue.
I’m not advocating this – just hoping to generate some discussion. I’ve been getting some vocal free market comments recently, so how about it? Should the free market extend to organ sales? What if it were government sponsored and regulated, and served a social agenda (see excerpts below)?
This article is also a harrowing tale of homelessness. Lots to talk about here.
“…chronic kidney disease has become an epidemic. The waiting list for kidney transplants in the United States has reached 78,000, and about a third of the people on it will die before they get one. The average wait is now three to five years.” [Houston Press, Page 3]
“Dr. Benjamin Hippen, a nephrologist [kidney specialist]… believes… that the vast unmet demand for kidneys in rich countries creates black markets for them in poor ones. He became involved … to address the specter of transplant tourism.” [Houston Press, Page 3]
How about non-cash compensation?
“…Hippen suggests nontransferable, nonmonetary forms of government compensation that, as he puts it, ‘demonstrate the type of respect for a person selling their kidney that tossing a couple of bucks on the ground doesn’t.’ These could be anything from pension plans to lifelong health care. He says pilot projects are the best way to determine what, if anything, works best. Late last year, Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania sponsored a bill that would amend the 1984 law against compensation to allow for exactly that.” [Houston Press, Page 3]
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