Thousands of people die each year due to a shortage of kidneys available for transplant. Should people be paid to donate one of their organs, as a financial incentive to help alleviate this shortage?
Check out a debate of economists from the Wall Street Journal here
Read what more economists are saying about this issue here, here, or from the Marginal Revolution here for more.
14 comments:
I think that it is ridiculous that people would set any limitations on giving organs (or selling) to other people who need it. It doesnt make any sense to cause other people to die because of "moral issues".
J. Anderson P.5
I believe people should get paid for financial incentive because they are the ones who are giving up a kidney that could possibly have later health effects. If money is what they want for a kidney they should get it. There are alot of people who need the transplant, and at the same time alot people that could use the money. There would be a greater increase of available kidneys to save lives
Zach Shamblott Period 4
I think that paying people to donate their kidneys is a good idea because there is such a high demand for kidneys. This would save many peoples lives. Some people think its like putting a price on life but ultimately it will save peoples lives and thats the goal.
I think that it would be nice if people got money for donating their kidneys. They should be rewarded for doing something nice.
I think people should be able to do whatever they want with their organs. There are many people in the world who need transplants, and many people need money. So why shouldn't people be able to sell them? Both of them would save many peoples lifes, or change them for the better.
My mom is a nurse at the University. She said that 74,000 people are waiting kidneys nationwide and over 93,000 waiting for all organs. There were only 8,000 deceased donors in 2006 which would only provide a maximum of 16,000 kidneys. So its a supply and demand issue, there is a much greater demand than resourse. When people have living donors they do not have to go on dialysis where people wait 5 to 6 years for a kidney, and about 10% die waiting. If you had a fair system where the government or insurance comapny paid a fixed rate then you would have a regulated system. And equal dispersion of kidneys to all classes or people, not just the wealthy ones being able to buy them. As long as the donors are informed about the risk and sign their consent to donate, then i think it should be a common practice. It would increase the likelihood of donation. Its legal to sell blood, sperm and eggs is this much different?
Philip Barlow
i think that people are entitled to do what they want with their own stuff. if someone wants to sell their organs thats their decision, they aren't being pressured.
First of all i know that people should be able to do what they want with their kidney it's just sad how people could actually say "no" to a dying person. It's not like you're giving up your life for theirs. You're giving up a part of you that you don't necessarily need to survive. Don't people ever think of an "unselfish deed" anymore? Isn't saving someone's life a good enough reward without having to involve money? However, if giving someone money is the only way to get them to donate an organ then I would say that's what they should do. People are dying and we should help them anyway we can.
-bre
i don't agree with selling kidneys because saving someone's life is all the reward you need.
on the other hand i can see why people would choose to sell them by the benefit of earning money for a lost organ.
choosing to donate is already a large decision, but along with deciding to sell an organ will come a heated debate about if it's right or not.
i don't think it is.
josie.
While purchasing or buying organs might sound awkward, isn't it somewhat similar to selling, woman's eggs or men's sperm? I know it sounds weird and both kidneys and bodily fluids are used for two different things, but already in the United States we are selling things from our body, so why is selling a kidney any different? Based on the graph on the previous page, the number of patients who need a kidney is 55,000, while only a certain 15,000 actually get a procedure done. What will happen to those 40,000 other peolpe who can't get a kidney? Looking at this in an economic perspective, the demand is much higher than the supply, but I don't think you can look at it that way. Lets assume that one is able to sell their kidney but doesn't want to fly or drive to the persons hospital who will be receiving it. Someone would have to pay for the protection of the kidney, the safe delivery of the kidney, and then finally the procedure. Right there, you will be buying the doctors, delivery persons, and the chemical suppliers services and contributing to the economic growth of soceity. That might sound far fetched, but if the government does legalize this "procedure", more patients will be saved, incomes raised, and more jobs will be created for the demand of these many services.
Nick Gove P.4 I feel that because there is such a high demand for organs giving people money for donating them would be a good idea. I know its hard to think that someone if they had the opportunity to save a life by donating an organ they wouldn't which is terrible. Any person if they had family members or friends that were going to die would pay someone to donate their organ. i think paying someone for giving up an organ would really increase in organ donation.
Well if you think about it, it's a donation. So your donating part of your body to save another person. You would think that that would be just as rewarding and geting money or some kind of 'dicount' or something along those lines. The people who need the kidneys do not plan on needing a transplant so they can't have some sort of back up for it. Its your own personal choice to 'donate' your kidney, or any organ.
janelle S.
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