Maybe organ donors should get paid? Not by shady brokers who abandon donors without medical care, but by governments or health insurance organizations. Payment could come in the form of freehealthcare for life (after all, organ donation creates a patient that could have chronic medical problems), or possibly cash.
These are some suggestions from Jim Warren, a journalist who covers the world of organ transplantation closer than probably anyone. He puts out a weekly and monthly version of his newsletter Transplant News. He's heard all of the arguments for and against payment for organ donation, and comes out believing that we have to at least test a payment system. Because, obviously, just telling people they can't do it isn't working, as evidenced by the situation in India.
Warren related an anecdote to me from an Indian surgeon to putthe issue in perspective. The surgeon was at a conference in the UnitedStates, and had been badgered repeatedly by American transplant surgeonson the point that payment for organs in India just had to be stopped.
Finally, the Indian surgeon had his say. He said he understood what theAmerican surgeons were saying, but that they had to understand thatgetting paid $5,000 (or similar amount) for an organ for poor Indianperson meant they could educate their entire family and live off ofthat money for the rest of their lives. There's just too muchincentive.
What do you think? Should organ donors get paid? If not, how do we stop the shady brokerage of organs?
