Patients are circumventing the traditional waiting time to find an organ donor by using Craigslist.
In some cases, years have been cut off the waiting times. But are hospitals prepared for the legal and ethical questions that accompany such a non-traditional means of organ donation?
Few medical institutions even consider such cases, with only 10 percent of transplant centers willing to do cases from an altruistic donor unrelated to the patient.
The biggest problem is dealing with the scam artists, eager to profit from the organ shortage. For instance, one offer included “an all-expenses paid relocation to the U.S.,” and other required the family to buy $250,000 worth of paintings in exchange for their kidneys.
Is it worth the risk? For some, the answer is yes, as desperation forces them to “wait for a phone call or an e-mail with news of the miracle that will save a life.”
Related posts:
- Poll: How can we increase the supply of donor kidneys?
- No give, no take
- Courts Rule that No One Owns A Donated Organ
- Buying a kidney
- Give me back my kidney!
- How Congress is addressing the organ donor shortage
- Dutch kidney reality show
{ 3 comments }
sadly, my searches for “human kidney” and “human baby” have come up empty.
There is no doubt that allowing compensation will greatly increase the number of donations. It would benefit those who are on the waiting list, but how would it affect all the other people involved? There are parallels between this and the policy of paying egg donors and sperm donors. In the US, this is allowed. In the UK this is not allowed. I posted today regarding this very debate.
When is the tyranny of the medical mafia to end!! Allow the sale of all body parts–let markets and rationality rule.
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