Organs for sale: what do you think?

I actually just did a bioethics panel discussion on this topic for my bioethics class. I wont sell my organs for any amount, if I were to donate, it would be to a close family member..

While I understand the issues with the organ "black market" it wouldnt stop no matter how many people donated their organs...
 
i consider the selling of organs as inmoral, it is profiteering from the misfortune of others and taking advantage of poverty and ignorance. people in third world countries don't have ready access to medical care and most of the times don't understand the consequences the selling of their organs might have in their life. also selling organs makes surgery ready available to those who can pay and leaves many of thsoe ones already on waiting lists out in the cold.
my ex partner had a kidney transplant and the donor was his own mother. my mother died after years of dialisis because we couldn't find a suitable donor and no, the idea of paying someone for his/her organs did never crossed our minds. (unluckily i wasn't a match).
so, no, i would not sell an organ. research and medical science exist to save lives not to make a profit.
 
If the price was right £££.........

Nah only joking. This is a tough one:

I can see why people do it, if they really need the money and are struggling to pay the bills. That way they'd get the money they needed and likewise the person gets the organ so everyone gets what they wanted (unless of course they die in the OR which could always happen - it's risky business).

Personally, I don't like the idea of making a profit out of someone else's misfortune so I wouldn't do it for money.
 
no I wouldn't jsut because I wouldn't want to take the risk involved in donating an intenal organ and risking my own life by risking in the surgical and hospital protocols acquiring a staph infection or the additional risk that down the line my life may depend upon that second kidney or what have you
 
^^ I'm watching it right now, which is why I'm resurrecting this thread (if that's cool with the mods).

I stand by what I originally said: right now, they're reserved for my family should they need them.



If the circumstances changed and someone was desperate, I wouldn't say I wouldn't consider it.


The only upside I could see in people legally being able to buy and sell their organs is that it clears up the waiting list for the people who can't afford that option.

If it is legal, it should be regulated so that nobody gets an unfair advantage.
 
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I can tell you what my husband thinks....we were in Thailand when he needed an emergency appendectomy, and he was convinced that they took it out only to sell it! Even though I tried to tell him that noone wanted his appendix....he was terrified that he would go under and wake up with more organs missing!!! RIDICULOUS!!!
 
...surgery ready available to those who can pay
Well, in some cultures, there is a very strong preference for medical treatment as a commercial product. And it is most definitely the preference of companies in the medical industry!

...people in third world countries...don't understand the consequences the selling of their organs might have in their life
With all respect, people who do this, no matter where they live - and this is not something that happens only in what you might think of as the "third world," totally understand the consequences.

They understand that if they sell the organ, they will receive money, and if they do not sell it, they will not receive money.

Yes, in many cases, it basically boils down to one family member offering up their life to buy the way out of pain, even a little more time on earth, for another family member. They understand that, too. They may even have a more comprehensive understanding of it than you do, as they will be more likely to know other people who made that choice, and have since gone to Heaven.

And because the societal conditions that brought them to that decision will still exist, it is unlikely that it will be more than a little more time, or more than a short respite from pain, because the worker's income will still be insufficient to purchase medical treatment for the ailing family member, even if the worker survives the surgery long enough to keep working for a while.

In its actual effect, it is not all that different from people who, motivated by the same desire to obtain immediate relief, or a little extra time for a family member, basically trade their homes in order to make that same one-time purchase of medical products or services whose price point is not a good fit with the value the market places on their labor.

The transition out of housing will almost certainly be accompanied by the resulting change in life expectancy, not to mention the cessation of income, which was not sufficient to buy those products and services in the first place, anyway!

...i consider the selling of organs as immoral...
Many people do.

However, it is clear that most people do not consider the societal choices that result in the selling of organs to be quite so immoral, or different choices would be made.

But just like the decisions to purchase things that one's wage is not enough to pay for, when the thing one wishes to purchase involves medical products or housing, these are not choices made with logic or consistency or a calculator, but with the heart.

Similarly, sometimes there can be some disconnect, a little dissonance, between how people feel about the individual act of a worker whose labor is valued below the price point of the thing he wishes to buy, and the way they feel about assigning that value to his labor and/or to the product he wants. :smile:

......profiteering from the misfortune of others and taking advantage of poverty and ignorance...
Are standard business practices, that have long enjoyed a high level of acceptance by those population sectors who receive a benefit from them, and sometimes an even higher level of acceptance by those who are not currently receiving a benefit, but aspire to.
 
my grandpa was a 27 year kidney transplant recipient.. he was only suppost to live 10 years after the transplant. i have a donor card in my wallet, and if any member of my family ever needed it, i would donate in a heart beat.

i would never sell, only donate
 
i dont think i ever really understood why people find the idea of selling organ immoral, but morality is subjective. personally, i wouldnt sell an organ out of a need for money, but i see nothing wrong with doing so. i also see nothing wrong with wanting to purchase one.

now lets take it to the extreme. if i had a child that needed a kidney and would die before receiving one off the waitlist, and i wasnt a match (and no one else in the family was) and couldnt afford to buy one, i would most definately consider selling one of mine in order to buy one for my baby. in fact, i know i would do it in a heartbeat.
 
...now lets take it to the extreme...i would most definitely consider selling one of mine in order to buy one for my baby. in fact, i know i would do it in a heartbeat.
Well, that's exactly it! Extreme is totally the operative word in that kind of situation! It's only when things get SUPER extreme that people make those choices.

Like when the other poster mentioned people understanding consequences, and I said the consequence would be not receiving the money if they didn't sell the kidney, and receiving it if they did.

When people are pushed to that extreme desperation, that's really the only consequence that exists.

If they had the luxury of exploring other options, or pondering various considerations, they would probably not even be talking to the dude that can hook you up.

I guess in the sense of a hypothetical discussion, for many people, it's no different from any of those ethical dilemma things in undergrad classes that invariably result in most people agreeing that until your feet are glued into those shoes, you may not be able to say for sure what you would or wouldn't do. :smile:

What is happening now is that because of some changes in the way the world does business, in technology, and of course the economic transition in the US, there are more people glued to those shoes, and lots, lots more glued to the ones just a shelf or two away, and more people who know about it than was the case maybe even as recently as 10-15 years ago.

As a result, it's something that is making its virgin voyage, as it were, into the thoughts and musings of a lot of people who are probably kind of surprised that they are even thinking about such a thing in the first place!