"I Destroyed Myself," Destitute Organ Seller Laments
Organ sales also reduce human life to a commodity, a growing problem in several areas of society. And it has real consequences. This story explains vividly why it should be against the law. Poor Pakistanis were exploited for their organs and now live in ill health. Libertarians and others who see "the marketplace" as a splendid way to ease the organ shortage are among the "buying" class. For the destitute, the money goes fast and the health consequences last a lifetime.
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 9:06 AM
9 Comments
9 Comments:
These sad stories certainly tugs on our heartstrings. That said, I'm uncomfortable with a government that prevents us from harming ourselves.
Nor do I see a fully coherent rationale why financial compensation is worse than moral compensation from donating a kidney to save life, or use one's healthy body for scientific research. If the results are the same, then if anything, financial benefit is better.
My personal preference for this situation is to address the root causes of poverty and the exploitation of the under-classes. Why are the farmers in debt? That should be the focus.
If there is a law, then let it focus on the doctors themselves. The doctor should only do such procedures on people who freely consent. And yes, economic coercion could be a factor in it, but I don't think it is dispositive.
When someone donates organs with full understanding of what one is doing, then there is no problem. When a society encourages sale of organs, doners don't necessarily make informed decisions. Financial compensation is worse than moral compensation because it encourages people to act without full knowledge and thus risk their lives and livelihoods. Financial compensation also encourages people to abuse those who do not have the ability to defend themselves. If Grandmother is in her decline, what is to prevent her grandson from convincingly having HER organs donated and then pocketing the money himself? In a perfect world grandson wouldn't be able to pull that off, but this is hardly a perfect world, and by allowing the selling of organs, one opens the door to all kinds of abuse. Yes, people will do evil things even if there are laws against them, but it will be much harder, and the consequences will be greater. Also, we will be able to prevent human farming for body parts for a lot longer if even a simple thing such as selling organs is not made legal. It may seem like something nobody would contemplate, but there are those who are so violently opposed to dying that they would rather subject someone else to death than go through it themselves.
Very well said, t e fine, although I think we should have altruistic live organ donation protocols that ensure that such a serious decision is not made in haste, and with full knowledge of the possible ramifications.
Y'know, I have a number of what one might call immature persuits on the Internet, so I chose the handle T. E. Motta for my blog so that I could keep my video-game obsession separate from my intellectual pleasures, but somehow my nick just sounds pretentious. I think I'll stick to signing my posts Tabs (short for my name, Tabitha) anyway.
As to your reply, Wesley, the requirements for live organ donation right now seem pretty tight. Again, not a perfect world so there's no guarantee that someone won't fall through the cracks, but I haven't seen or read anything to suggest that the US standards for live organ donation aren't high enough. Then again this is an area where I don't have direct first-hand knowledge, so I admit I may be lacking in my research.
Tabs
Tabs: I agree--so far.
What live donation is legal in the U.S.? Single kidney and single lobe of the liver? Or are there others I'm not thinking of right now?
How common are the serious health problems reported in the story? Is this just because of poor follow-up care? My impression was that single-kidney donation was not a huge deal as far as health, and that this is why it is permitted in the U.S. at all.
I'm entirely opposed to payment for organs, and that is because I think there are certain things that are intrinsically not rightly regarded as saleable commodities. The human body (or parts thereof) is one of these. Human beings are another. The trouble with some libertarians is that they have no concept that some things should not be sold, period. Sex, for example. But I suspect Royale might disagree with most or all of these examples. (I say this as a person with many libertarian sympathies.)
Lydia: It can be a very big deal. A few donors have died. Some have permanently lost their health.
Wesley, that's pretty serious. On Right Reason I initiated a long discussion this summer about both live and dead organ donation. The question I raised about live organ donation was whether it is "too damaging" to the donor, such that it should be regarded as a form of deliberate self-mutilation. If so, I think it probably is wrong, just as we wouldn't think that someone should contract to have his healthy arm deliberately cut off to help another person. It was astonishing how bothered people were by this questioning. (I didn't say that it _is_ wrong, only that it might be if the damage done to the donor is very great.) Some seemed to believe that since it's okay to risk your life (e.g. saving someone from a fire) then giving a kidney couldn't be wrong, but that, I think, is a different matter. The damage done to the fireman is not expressly chosen by him. That is, he just wants to get the person out. If he loses a limb in the process, that was accidental to the goal of carrying the person out.
In any event, having argued that the degree of damage done to the donor is crucial to the ethics of live donation, I'm sorry to learn that it's plausibly quite a serious degree of damage.
It is important to recongize that it is illegal in the US to buy, sell, barter or trade human organs.
Presently, organs are allocated based on matching criteria, severity of illness, and length of time waiting. This system is as fair and as equitable as possible, and as such it is blind to race, religion, weath, fame, beauty, connections, and power. Imagine what would happen to our society if we started putting prices on human organs.
Living, or altruistic, organ donors are elligible to donate a kidney or part of their lung, liver, intestine or pancreas. This is often done for a relative or loved one, but also occcurs between perfect strangers. As with any surgical procedure, there is some level of risk involved (How many more people have died undergoing elective plastic surgery?). Donors are made fully aware of this risk by the transplant team and are only elligible to donate if they pass a rigorous physical and psychosocial examination to ensure their suitability, health, and ability to make an informed decision regarding the surgery and its risks.
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