Market for Human Organs
Logan Williams Economics 211 Cupelli 28 February 2013 The Market for Human Organs Richard Knox, a National Public Radio reporter (Richard Knox), states, “About 75,000 Americans are on the waiting list for kidney transplants. But in the coming year, just 18,000 will get them. ” Unfortunately, the transplant list is only growing with each passing year. This means that many people will die on the waiting list and those who are lucky enough to get to surgery may not be strong enough to survive the operation because they have been without vital organs for so long.
The legalization of the market would cause more people to donate, evening out the difference between donations and needed transfers. Since the demand for human organs is so high people will do everything in their power to get what they need. Often times this leads to people searching the black market. These organs and operations are not only non-sterile, but can be extremely dangerous as the buying and selling conditions are often extremely unsafe. The black market is also known for causing crime, but the offenses committed for human organs a lot of the time involve violent crimes and sometimes murder.
The legalization would cause these crimes to almost come to a complete stop. If the human organ market is legalized many more people would be able to get the organs they need. Many more lives would be saved if selling and purchasing organs were legal. Participation in medical research, the selling of blood, eggs, and semen for compensation has become a way for many people to come out of debt or simply have a little bit more money to get by. It only makes sense that if people were given the options to sell their organs more would be involved.
With the legalization of the human organ market, people would be more likely to donate their organs knowing that they can get a reward for saving someone’s life. This will help people pay off debts, save money for retirement, or give them more spending money in a safe, reliable way being treated by doctors. When donations are taken after a donor has passed away, the payment would simply be given to a person, institution, or charity chosen by the donor. If it becomes legal to sell organs, it will also become a taxable good, bringing more money into the government.
As donation numbers increase, more organs will be available to those in need, and many more lives will be saved. With the increased number of donated body parts, not only will we see direct increases in the number of transplants, but also a tremendous reduction in hospital costs with less people on organ waiting lists. When less money is needed to treat patients waiting for body parts, hospitals can redistribute funds into other branches to buy new technology, hire more staff, or offer more treatment to patients, thus saving more lives.
Unfortunately, the many people on the transplant list are slowly dying without any significant treatment. These people know that if they do not get any new organs soon, which many realize because they have been on the waiting list for extremely long with no end in sight, they most likely will have to resort to very dangerous ways of getting what they need. They are willing to pay any price so save their lives. This often leads them to the black market.
The amount of people involved in the black market is increasing, but untrained people perform surgeries in non-sterile environments leading to risks of infection and possibly death. Another issue with the black market is many poor people become victimized by the wealthy and do not get the money they were promised before the surgery (Growing Market). If the market of human organs was legalized the surgeries would be safer and the money would be guaranteed, leading people away from the dangers of the black market. The black market is notorious for causing crime.
Since most people that are in dyer need of an organ don’t care where they are getting it from, people begin stealing other people’s organs. Many people commit violent crimes or kill for other people’s organs and sell them for their own profit. If organs could be legally sold there would need to be proper identification and paperwork before the surgery could take place, making it so there is not profit in selling organs, therefore dramatically reducing the violent crimes taking place. The legalization would cause the sale of human organs on the black market to almost completely stop.
Sadly, the organ transplant list is only growing with the passing time and if there are no changes in how the system is today the donor list will not increase with any significance. If the market for human organs is legalized it would cause an increase in the donor list, money brought into the hospitals and the government. It would decrease the list of people in need of a transplant, the crime rate for organ thefts, the deaths caused by black market surgeries, and could cause an end to the sales of human organs on the black market completely.
Without a change people will continue to die waiting for organs they likely never had a chance to receive since the beginning. The legalization of the market for human organs could save many more lives than the organ waiting list is saving now. Works Cited “Growing Market for Human Organs Exploits Poor. ” MSUToday. N. p. , n. d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. Knox, Richard. “Should We Legalize the Market for Human Organs? ” NPR. NPR, n. d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. “Richard Knox. ” N. p. , n. d. Web. 27 February 2013 “Should the Sale of Human Organs Be Legal? ” a?? Debate. org. N. p. , n. d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.
