My personal opinion.
Deceased donor/cadaveric donation is going nowhere, public education is not working, we refuse to restrict the waiting list, and we spend "billions" of dollars a year for 80,000 people on the list. Time for a change! The cost per person is huge compared to other diseases, just huge!
We harm no one by paying a living donor to donate, so what if the wealthy get a donor. In all probability that paid donor was not going to donate to a pool or a relative or friend and the probability of the donor becoming a cadaveric donor in the future is the same as a snowball in **** . We have actually helped those on the waiting list by removing someone thus making the list smaller. No one is harmed. Now, as to the donor being coerced etc. , we can work rules and regs into the system. I am sure there are a zillion donors out there who were in some manner compensated by their recipient whether it be money, a car, who cares, it took someone off of the list and that donor would not have donated otherwise. Where did that long lost cousin come from for that recent NBA star that got the kidney, tell me a Mercedes was not in that cousins future!
If we are not willing to restrict the list as to who can get an organ then at least let us pay for those that are willing to take the risk for money.
The anount of regulation, oversight, patient input and goverment intervention in transplant is unlike any other field of medicine where money is a factor. Only in transplant do we try to be equitable to everyone. the rest of medicine, you don't have money or insurance and you don't get treated or get the best treatment. We have how many Americans without insurance, withoput pre natal care, and the children who have no immunizations etc. Remember the OJ trial, not everyone can get the best attorneys either. Life is not fair, medicine is not fair and it may be time to bring transplatation into the twenty first century. Everyone is making money on transplantation, from the surgeons, coordinators, OPOs, tissue banks etc. The ethicists that continue to proclaim their version of the right vs wrong of the world would pay for that kidney if their child needed one and they had the bucks to do it, I firmly believe that. I am so tired of these so called expert ethicists spouting off on their version of fair play, they need to leave academia and get into the real world of no insurance, and no hope.
By the way, I work in this field and my opinion is definitely not that of the docs and others. It amazes me though how often a doc in need of an organ seems to get one regardless of age. Not as bad as the Mickey Mantle fiasco of several years ago but one does wonder!
Whether we like Iran or not they have no waiting list, why, they pay any donor a years wages to donate and they have wiped out the waiting list for kidneys!
By the way, we are allowed to sell blood, sperm, female eggs but not kidneys?
[ February 03, 2004, 08:31 PM: Message edited by: Spector ]
