According to the National Marrow Donor Program, more than 300,000 patients in the United States will be diagnosed with leukemia or other life-threatening illnesses that can be treated by marrow and blood stem cell transplantation. One-fourth of the 300,000 patients will find a suitable donor within their own family. Currently, there are 80,000 people on the waiting list for an organ. Sadly, of those on the list, sixteen people die every day waiting for a life-saving organ donation.
Presently, less than five percent of the eligible population is donating their blood or bone marrow. As medical techniques improve, and organ transplantations become more successful, the number of people on the waiting list will continue to climb, as it has been for many years now. However, the number of organs available cannot carry on with the demand, and health officials now are looking for ways to recruit more organ donors.
One possible solution to the shortage of organ donors is to reimburse the organ donor and his or her family for their donation. In March of 2001, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would help the states pay for the donor's expenses. The bill, which passed unanimously, authorizes five million dollars a year in grants to states and organ banks in an effort to increase the number of organ donations. The money will pay for transportation, medical, and additional expenses for living donors. In doing so, it is important to understand that the money will not be paying for the actual organ, which is strictly prohibited by the United States government. Instead, the bill provides financial aid by reimbursing organ donors of any travel and medical expenses incurred.
Opponents of this bill argue that the reimbursement of such expenses would essentially be assigning a value to life. To most people, donating an organ is an act of altruism, and many find this idea that the government would attempt to increase the number of organ donors through the offering of money offensive. In an ideal society, this would be a valid argument. Unfortunately, we cannot depend on altruism alone in the society we live in. Doing so would put the lives of many people at stake, and furthermore, one can argue that there are many individuals in noble professions that are paid in exchange for their services.
For example, nurses are paid for taking care of other people, and are not expected to work voluntarily. They are paid for their services, yet, nurses are viewed as caring, altruistic individuals. At the same time, they too need a source of income in order to support themselves. In fact, when compared to professional athletes, actors, musicians, and other very high-paying jobs, a nurse has a more significant role in our society than playing basketball or singing a pop song.
The same argument holds for organ donors. Donating an organ is an altruistic act, but in doing so, the organ donor also has expenses to be paid. I argue that the government, at the very least, should pay for the transportation and medical expenses needed to make the donation possible. Under this bill, the government would help pay for the medical and travel expenses of the donor and not for the actual organ. It would be a way for the government to thank the donor by aiding his or her family with the expenditures.
If you view paying the medical and travel expenses of an organ donor as problematic, consider the fact that the hospital receives the organ voluntarily, and without payment. However, the patient that receives the organ transplantation needs to pay a bill of several thousand dollars for an organ that would essentially save their life. It is only fair, from an economic point of view, that the person donating the organ is reimbursed for his or her medical and travel expenses. It is also important to consider the fact that these are not frivolous expenses, but expenses necessary for the organ transplantation to be made possible.
The bill also provides states fifteen million dollars for the development of registries and for continuing public education regarding organ donation. In this way, the bill provides both short and long term solutions for the lack of organ donations. Those who support the bill hope to increase the number of people who are willing to donate their organs in an effort to save the lives of another person by providing some monetary support. In the long term, health officials hope that the public would be more educated regarding the donation of organs, and hopefully, enable more people to have a second chance at life with organ transplantation.
Tuyet is a second-year student majoring in biological sciences. She plans to attend medical school and aspires to practice in the field of pediatrics.
