Introduction
There have been controversial issues surrounding donations of organs to be used specifically for transplantation. Current statistics have revealed that the ethical dilemma confounding organ donation and transplantation stems from the evident shortage of donors who are willing to donate their organs for patients who had been waiting in earnest. A website which monitor the transplant trends reveals that there are currently 118,731 waiting list candidates as of the date of this research; while only 4,534 donors were recorded for the period January to April 2013 . To address this shortage, some patients or relatives apparently resort to buying in illegal markets; since buying and selling organs have been considered illegal in the United States through the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 which reportedly banned the practice . In this regard, the current discourse aims to present the ethical considerations in organ donation; and the pros and cons of allowing donors to be paid for donating an organ.
Pro: The Ethical Considerations and Consequences of Allowing Donors to be Paid for Donating an Organ
Advocates for allowing organ donors to be paid apparently argue that it would be beneficial for donors to receive due compensation for organs which are donated since most of the living donors were noted to come from economically disadvantaged families; to wit: “the United States has the money and resources to eliminate socioeconomic disparities, and if this were done,
people could then sell their organs, because it is poverty that requires people to act out in
desperation for money and not with an objective and informed mind” (Veatch, 2000; cited in Center for Bioethics, 2004, p. 27). Likewise, it was also contended that having a ready market for organs would significantly eliminate the shortage and waiting time for patients who need transplantation most. However, other ethical concerns which emerge with payment is allowed is that only the wealthy or financially well-off would be given priority to avail of organs for sale.
Con: The Ethical Considerations and Consequences of NOT Allowing Donors to be Paid for Donating an Organ
On the contrary, if organ donors are not allowed to be paid (which is the status quo or the prevailing situation), the shortage of organs would persist and the number of lives of people who are in dire need for organ transplantation would be put in jeopardy. Likewise, legalizing the sale of organs would require a standardized system complete with policies and regulations to avoid discriminating minorities. However, as contended, “whatever the proposed system, regulation may not be readily accomplished. Once a market is lawful, half-way measures that allow for sellers but not for buyers might prove inoperative” .
Conclusion
Upon closer evaluation of the advocating and opposing arguments towards allowing or not allowing donors to be paid for donating an organ, one is convinced that the solution to the ethical dilemma is not simple. One could simply propose that the most viable and effective move would be to select the option which would benefit the greatest number of people for the greater good. As emphasized, “buying and selling organs is not morally objectionable, but that the system as it exists is inadequate to provide appropriate safeguards” (Dossetor, 1992; cited in . Thus, unless a more plausible and reliable system with allows buying and selling of organs would protect the interests of all parties in a fair and equitable manner, the ethical issues would continue to pervade contemporary organ donation conditions.
References
Center for Bioethics. (2004). Ethics of Organ Transplantation. Retrieved from ahc.umn.edu: www.ahc.umn.edu/img/assets/26104/Organ_Transplantation.pdf
Dossetor, J. (1992). Rewarded gifting: Is it ever ethically acceptable? Transplantation Proceedings, 24(5):2092-2094.
Rothman, S., & Rothman, D. (2006). The Hidden Cost of Organ Sale. American Journal of Transplantation, 6(7); 1524-1529.
United Network for Organ Sharing. (2013, July 19). Transplant Trends. Retrieved from unos.org: http://www.unos.org/
Veatch, R. (2000). Gift or Salvage: The Two Models or Organ Procurement. In Transplant Ethics (pp. 143-166). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
