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Should living organ donors be compensated?

Asked by augustlan (47745points) July 25th, 2009

I just read an article about the black market for buying and selling kidneys. Do you think standard payments to living donors would be a viable method to both increase donations and reduce the need for the black market? From the article:

A few transplant surgeons support changing the law to allow a system of regulated compensation to increase the pool of donor kidneys.

Arthur Matas, a transplant surgeon who directs the kidney transplant service at the University of Minnesota Medical School, said donors could be compensated with some combination of lifetime access to medical care, life insurance, a tax credit, help with college and a small direct payment.

“It would minimize the extraordinary black market and exploitation of impoverished people internationally,” Matas said.

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