PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The organ shortage is the major problem in kidney transplantation today. Despite aggressive organ procurement efforts, the supply of donated kidneys, living and deceased, has not matched the growing demand; as a consequence, more and more qualified candidates are suffering on dialysis and then dying before being transplanted. Herein, we provide justification for a regulated system of compensation for donation. RECENT FINDINGS: The main argument in favor of compensation is simple-financial incentives will increase donation, so fewer transplant candidates will suffer and die while waiting. In addition, development of a regulated system of compensation is the most effective means of crippling the core economic support for transplant tourism. Because dialysis is so much more expensive than a transplant, compensated donation could be cost-neutral to the healthcare system. Importantly, opinion polls suggest that the public would support compensation. As uncompensated kidney donation is widely accepted, persuasive arguments against compensation must explain why such a system would be morally distinguishable from uncompensated donation. SUMMARY: We suggest that the potential advantages of a regulated system of compensation for donation far outweigh any potential disadvantages. It is time to advocate for a change in the law so that trials can be done.
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The organ shortage is the major problem in kidney transplantation today. Despite aggressive organ procurement efforts, the supply of donated kidneys, living and deceased, has not matched the growing demand; as a consequence, more and more qualified candidates are suffering on dialysis and then dying before being transplanted. Herein, we provide justification for a regulated system of compensation for donation. RECENT FINDINGS: The main argument in favor of compensation is simple-financial incentives will increase donation, so fewer transplant candidates will suffer and die while waiting. In addition, development of a regulated system of compensation is the most effective means of crippling the core economic support for transplant tourism. Because dialysis is so much more expensive than a transplant, compensated donation could be cost-neutral to the healthcare system. Importantly, opinion polls suggest that the public would support compensation. As uncompensated kidney donation is widely accepted, persuasive arguments against compensation must explain why such a system would be morally distinguishable from uncompensated donation. SUMMARY: We suggest that the potential advantages of a regulated system of compensation for donation far outweigh any potential disadvantages. It is time to advocate for a change in the law so that trials can be done.
Authors: Allison Tong; Angelique F Ralph; Jeremy R Chapman; Germaine Wong; John S Gill; Michelle A Josephson; Jonathan C Craig Journal: Clin J Am Soc Nephrol Date: 2015-04-23 Impact factor: 8.237
Authors: Arthur J Matas; Sally Satel; Stephen Munn; Janet Radcliffe Richards; Angeles Tan-Alora; Frederike J A E Ambagtsheer; Micheal D H Asis; Leo Baloloy; Edward Cole; Jeff Crippin; David Cronin; Abdallah S Daar; James Eason; Richard Fine; Sander Florman; Richard Freeman; John Fung; Wulf Gaertner; Robert Gaston; Nasrollah Ghahramani; Ahad Ghods; Michelle Goodwin; Thomas Gutmann; Nadey Hakim; Benjamin Hippen; Ajit Huilgol; Igal Kam; Arlene Lamban; Walter Land; Alan Langnas; Reynaldo Lesaca; Gary Levy; RoseMarie Liquette; William H Marks; Charles Miller; Enrique Ona; Glenda Pamugas; Antonio Paraiso; Thomas G Peters; David Price; Gurch Randhawa; Alan Reed; Keith Rigg; Dennis Serrano; Hans Sollinger; Sankaran Sundar; Lewis Teperman; Gert van Dijk; Willem Weimar; Romina Danguilan Journal: Am J Transplant Date: 2011-12-17 Impact factor: 8.086
Authors: Giorgina Barbara Piccoli; Laura Sacchetti; Laura Verzè; Franco Cavallo Journal: Philos Ethics Humanit Med Date: 2015-12-18 Impact factor: 2.464