In the United States it is against the law to buy and sell human body parts. As a result many people who need an organ transplant die before a donated one is available.
In Canada, it is now "illegal to pay donors for sperm." As a result there is now a shortage, and sperm is being imported from the United States.
Is profit really worse than shortages that lead, in some cases, to death? I don't think so. People should be allowed to sell their body parts, pre- or post-mortem. It would solve many problems and save many lives.
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So would organ purchasing ultimately fall upon the insurance companies or the individuals? (Or the government?)
ReplyDeleteIt seems as though this would be an interesting market to watch develop. I imagine the system would work somewhere along the lines of having the line of people waiting for the 'free' organs, much like they do today, but then they'd have the opportunity to pay to get a sold organ. Or, if the government pays for it, it would declare the market value (and pay for it with their own insurance), and then all organs would be free for everyone, right? Right???
Assuming the market remains remotely open, how much would you be willing to pay for one of my healthy kidneys, lungs, hearts, or prostates?
I would expect to see a five figure price for donations that require major surgery and lots of recovery time, like a kidney. Maybe there are other things that can be extracted more easily. People might be willing to sell organs from their future cadaver at a lower price, which they'd make up in volume because they could sell them all. If supply exceeds demand then prices could become quite low, which would be ideal.
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