Strayer University
Business Ethics
BUS309
Professor Bennett
July 27, 2014
Commercialization of Organ Transplants
Thousands of people die every day waiting on an organ transplant. But whose really say which patient is in more need than the next patient. The demand for organs in the medical community is very high, but solely dependent on the altruistic donations from willing participants or family members. The biggest obstacle would be trying to find enough organs to be donated to meet the demand of the many patients, but also be an exact match.
The sale of organs has been banned since October of 1984. But the argument of how lucrative the profit can be has been discussed over and over again. It has been argued that commodification may not be the best option, but it could be ideal for the medical community. So many organizations believe that it is immoral to sell and buy organs of another human being for profit as if it was a piece of property. Other organizations feel that if you’re only going to dispose of the organs and there is a good use for them, why a profit can’t be made from the sale of the organs. The Organ Transplant Network believes that there is a great market in selling organs and the bigger picture is that it could possibly remedy the black market of selling organs illegally. The Organ Transplant Network believes that if a network was designed it can still be for volunteers and receive donations, but they would be compensated for their donation. They criteria would still be the same and they would still have to go thru the same interview process to ensure that they are indeed healthy. They feel that this network could be monitored by government administration and the funds would either be federal funds or charitable donations, but by no means will the patients have to pay out of their own pockets. They feel that if the government got involved it would address majority of the practical worries from the local and medical community.
After researching the commercialization of organ transplants I must say that I cannot agree with the sale of human organs. I know that most people believe if we involve the government they can regulate the process, but I do not think that it would make it more successful. We have so many people in this country that are treated unfairly and would probably miss out on a transplant because of their economic status. I know that this is a major concern for the religious groups but I do not believe that there is a religious group that forbids the commercialization of organ transplants. It is a known fact that the donation of healthy organs that are exact matches is a scarce source and the list alone for the transplants is longer than the amount of donations that are being giving. I do not agree with the decision to commercialize organ transplants because I believe that the market will be abused and some donors that are in dying need may not get that organ in time. There are so many government regulated services that are abused. I know that getting government assistance is not the same as someone donating their organ, but either way it is abused and people that are in desperate need tend to miss out on every occasion. I do not think selling organs is the best option because not all families have the funds to purchase but that does not mean that their life is not valuable because they are less fortunate financially. I mean the design of the organ transplant network is designed to be funded by federal funds and donations, but what happened to these people that need these organs and the federal funds run low and the donations come to a complete stop. I do not see looking at the bottom line is the best answer for this medical situation. I think over all the demand for organ transplant donors is not promoted enough. I think this is an urgent situation and should be talked about all over the world on a daily basis. I do not think enough emphasis is placed on the urgency and need of donations. As lucrative as the profit is described the organ selling market is not as satisfying as it may seem. Studies have shown that the sellers of the organs are not fully satisfied with the end result. After all one person is giving away a part of their body that they may need one day and to be dissatisfied with the end result is just not good business or does it make the person who donated.
Even though the need for organs has reached a desperate point to where the demand exceeds the need there has yet to be a solid convincing argument that states why organs should be sold. There are several challenges that need to be addressed on both sides either for or against the commercialization of organ transplants.
References http://tidsskriftet.no/article/2173097/en_GB http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/amlmed21&div=8&id=&aage=
Lawlor R. Organ sales needn't be exploitative (but it matters if they are). Bioethics 2011; 25: 250 – 9.
