Living Donor Organ Transplantation: Chapter 9 - Paid organ donation: challenges for public health care policy

Altruism-based systems of organ procurement are not adequate to meet medical demand. Appropriately framing public policy requires critical assessment of those strategies for organ procurement and allocation that would most improve access to human organs, thereby saving lives, reducing human suffering, and advancing health care outcomes, as well as increasing the efficient and effective use of scarce resources, while also avoiding moral harms, such as the exploitation of persons. Each of these challenges is best met through the use of a variety of market-oriented policies. In some limited aspects, public policy has already adopted more market-friendly incentives to encourage organ donation. Proper regulation is essential to ensure that such a system benefited those in need, and that those who provided organs are properly compensated. However, without significant changes to public policy, far too many patients will languish on waiting lists until they run out of time.