'Aren't the Organs a Silver Lining?'

https://longreads.com/2026/05/19/fentanyl-opioids-organ-donation-arizona-oneill/

by mooreds • 25 days ago

9 2 25 days ago

wildzzz• 24 days ago

I don't think people should be able to sell organs or the estate receive compensation. Most organ donation procedures for a living donor are highly invasive and open you up to complications in both the short and long term. There are too many desperate people out there that would be willing to go through with it just for a paycheck. If you're dead, too bad. You signed up to be an organ donor.

However, I do think there are ways to incentivized organ donation. You could be given slightly more priority if you need an organ over someone else of equal need. There's probably another way too that doesn't involve cash.

The government should have a monopoly on recovered organs, they should become government property immediately upon removal. Recovery should only be performed by approved surgeons and verified attached with verified records to back up the source to prevent black market organs from slipping into the network.

When you need an organ transplant, you should only be allowed to register for the closest metropolitan area. This prevents the wealthy from being able to hop a plane at a moments notice and receive an organ from anywhere in the country. Everyone is on the same playing field. Organs should only be transported out of that metropolitan area if there is a greater need for it elsewhere. Like if the #1 in Dallas needs a heart and there's one in Charlotte but the top few of the list aren't eligible for it, it should go to Dallas. Everyone on a donor registration should receive a ranking that's determined anonymously by a third party. Metro areas get first dibs on an organ recovered in that area before it must be sent elsewhere.

mooreds• 23 days ago

You might find this podcast episode, where the topic is the economics of kidney transplants in Iran, interesting: https://www.econtalk.org/tina-rosenberg-on-the-kidney-market...

It's from 2015, so no idea if it reflects the current situation. But it digs into some of the same concerns (money, ethics, etc) you raise.

'Aren't the Organs a Silver Lining?'

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