Should You Pay For Organ Donation?

Organ Donation : To Pay or Not To Pay

A famous NFL Hall of Famer and running back for Chicago Bears , Walter Payton , had been debilitated by a rare liver ailment called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC . This is why there was a nationwide call in 1999 that he requires a liver transplant . He needed to wait , like 64 ,000 other people to be bestowed with healthy organs to replace a failing kidney , heart , lung , liver or pancreas (Kinnon , February 1999 Although he does have the money to compensate anyone who could provide him

assistance , under the 1984 federal law , it is illegal for any institution or individual to provide incentives for people who are willing to donate their organs . It is a chilling fact that thousands of people , like Payton , die each year because of the ensuing organ shortage . If it means saving the lives of numerous people , there 's definitely nothing wrong in paying for organ donation , if the government could regulate it effectively

Let us first consider the chilling statistics . Harris and Alcorn (2005 reported that 68 ,000 Americans are waiting for an organ donation , with a name added to the list every sixteen minutes . Twelve Americans die every day because a needed vital organ is not available . Yet , there is only the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act , which is only a tool to promote public awareness , health care provider education , and to prohibit the sale of most human organs . If people are dying and suffering because of shortage , why not increase their chances in life by allowing compensatory donation of willing individuals

Relying solely on altruism was never successful . Curtis and Alcorn (2005 ) agreed by saying that this kind of system leaves the decision to the individual and preserves personal autonomy ' and it is also their duty find a donor who is willing to provide their organ as a gift . The Congress and the States still extending their efforts to find various forms of both awareness and encouragement , few programs have proven to be effective to increase the willing donors . Thus , the federal government has yet to take bold or innovative steps to increase organ donation . Time and effort has been spent in disputes over distribution of existing organs rather than finding new organ donors . Fact is that the altruistic system in the United States is not as effective , failing all throughout the years to close the gap between organ donation and organ need

Another suggested option is to obtain organs from dead people with their consent . Proponents of donor cards , donor statements on driver 's licenses , and other forms of living wills have promoted a system of cadaver organ procurement built on voluntarism where socially desirable virtues , such as altruism , and at the same time , protect the rights of persons who might , for various reasons , oppose the procurement of tissues from cadavers . Although many of those involved in organ procurement are making heroic efforts to increase the supply of organs from cadaver donors , there are a number of...