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In grade school they told me that my body, minus the water, is worth about $1.05 in various minerals.
In middle school I was taught that a man is more than the sum of his parts, but they didn’t supply numbers. I have to assume my corporal form has increased in value to at least a ten-spot.
Hypothetically, that’s the end of what my physical form is worth, however, because there is a federal law forbidding that I sell any of it. It’s not always illegal to buy body parts (depending on the state), and thus there is an existing market for kidneys, eyes, skin, parts of livers, and others things that I could pawn off for a pretty penny and live a full life thereafter. Because there is an existing demand, the prices for these items are extravagant. This demand has spawned urban legends of men awaking in tubs full of ice water, a note to call for medical assistance, and sans at least one kidney.
I haven’t found an actual buyer, but I have found some research via the oracle of all knowledge, Google, and some of the going prices, depending on location, then translated into a common currency are:
- Kidney – $1,000-10,000 USD
- Eye – $400-2,000 USD
- Lung – $1,000-5,000 USD
An offer to be paid for the donation of a healthy bit would surely entice some of our less philanthropic members of society to donate, and thus perhaps save some of the lives of people awaiting transplants, or make life easier for someone, or at worst, allow some researcher some more knowledge that may pay off in the forms of better future treatments.
So why is there a law forbidding the payment of people willing to voluntarily sacrifice a part of themselves? Is it time to make a fuss, and change the law to benefit more people?
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So why is there a law forbidding the payment of people willing to voluntarily sacrifice a part of themselves?
This exact question could be asked of prostitution… why is it illegal? Both prostitution and organ-sales involve two parties who each benefit from the transaction, while technology mitigates any risks significantly. True, each practice would require regulation to protect people, such as licensing, mandatory medical checkups, stiff penalties (!) for breaking the rules, and so on.
The problem, I think, is that the government treats its citizens as government property, dictating what one can and cannot do with their own person. This includes organ sales, prostitution, drug use, abortion, et cetera ad nauseum.
Do you still have any of the links from your Googling? May make for good further reading…
I didn’t keep the links, but I might find some in my browser cache. One interesting bit I did notice was that organs selling in Asia are going for a lot less $ than the same ones in Latin Amereica. I don’t know why, but it brought on thoughts of supply and demand.
The trouble I see with allowing the sales of body parts is that the price would probably never be “cheap”, thus the amount of money will amount to extortion of the very poor. Those destitute individuals would look at prices in the thousands to tens of thousands of dollars and see in that a solution to their temporary woes. In this fashion, the poorest would then become a vast organ farm for the wealthy. This would create a fundamental inequality within our society, relegating some to a status below that of slaves, to somewhere above cattle–bodystock.
I wonder if the idea of being able to sell your organs would trick people into staying healthy so they can then sell their organs. I can imagine that people would want your medical records before purchasing your organ. I mean a lemon when it comes to cars pales in comparison to a lemon when it comes to say a kidney.
This would create a fundamental inequality within our society, relegating some to a status below that of slaves, to somewhere above cattle–bodystock.”
And this is different from our current society how?
why if it was not illigal to sell your kidney would you sell it for 1,000 or 5,000 knowing that some dr.and hospital is going to charge the recepeant 2 or300,000 to place it . my body is worth more than that as well as my health but for the right price i can and would sell my body parts illigal or not
hey. here in my country (philippines) there’s a dude who walks around with just one eye cause he sold it so that his mom could live or something like that.. he got P15,000 (about $300) and the middle man got just about that too… now if it were legal.. hmmm?
There is an enourmous black market for organs. The biggest argument against creating a legal market for organ transplantation is inequality. Poverty-stricken people and people with debts often sell their organs, but end up worse off, not being able to afford adequate medical treatment despite their profit. The middleman is the person who really profits, often earning up to ten times as much as the vendor. The apparent windfall gained by selling a kidney puts a lot of pressure on the poor to sell. There is a trend for organs to travel from the disenfranchised in society to those who are culturally dominant. Vendors tend to be women, black or poor, and buyers tend to be wealthy, white and male. A legal organ market alone is not the solution and overall has too many ethical problems to be worthwhile. A better solution may be presumptive consent for cadaveric organ donation, which has had some success in Europe, although the emphasis on personal autonomy in America is prohibitive in this regard. Better educational campaigns combined followed by the introduction of presumed consent may be preferable.
See: 27 University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Economic Law 205
Well, no one is going to MAKE them sell an organ. Its exploitation, but not extortion.
@rochellelyn: I like that idea. It would sure be an interesting side effect. I wonder what happens after the available tissue is used though. Would the mind set then be “hell, got nothin’ to lose now” set in? or would you continue to stay fit, knowing how much a replacement would cost.
Speaking of cost and black markets… I’m sure the present ban is keeping prices high. Look at say, tobacco and alcohol vs coke and marajuana. Profits are much higher when a black market economy is involved. Free market competition should drive prices down, benefiting the consumer. Damn Interesting.
My wife is a dialysis patient for more than 8 years and we almost involve ouselves in this practice. We just decided set aside the idea when we found out that there are so many goverment regulations discouraging this practice. We believe that these prohibitive regulations from the goverment help lower the market of selling organs especially from outside US.
I don’t understand what the big deal about “not being alowwed to sell MY body”. I WOULD GLADLY SELL A KIDNEY AND LIVER PORTIONS AND EVEN A LUNG ,IF THE $$WAS RIGHT,THAN JUST SET IT UP WITH A DR. OUT OF COUNTRY TO DO THE PROSSES, LIKE EUROPE,I ‘M A SINGLE WHITE MALE 28,6’3″,220LBS. AND IN GOOD HEALTH GIMME A SHOUT.KEITHMHOWARD AT YAHOO DOT C_OM IF ANYONY IS INTERESTED
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If your from America we have hope and freedom to live it. Don’t complain.
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How much would you sell your penis for?
NOT ME
Exploitation is still no bouquet of fresh cut, organically grown, delicious red roses.
mmm roses
Completely agreed. Anything should be legal as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone but the person doing it, who should have to be aware of and responsible for the risks. Some of those actions – organ donation and sex, for example – are not even currently illegal unless there’s money involved. I don’t think abortion belongs in the list of actions that don’t hurt anyone but the doer, though, since it is the fetus being harmed (killed) and the mother making the decision – the question is not one of voluntary sacrificing a bit of oneself, but of whether or not a fetus is a person with rights. On an unrelated note, a special Huzzah to you for consecutively using two Latin phrases!
…and it would indeed be a decent solution to their woes. So we’d end up with a formerly poor person now with a fair amount of capital, missing a kidney but otherwise healthy, and a rich person, formerly several thousand dollars richer, who would otherwise be dead or permanently hospitalised. Both parties win.
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sorry about that last one it is late and i am tired.
if you all are as concerned as all that? why not DONATE one of your own? you might start a trend! i am not trying to be critical, it is just that this argument is as old as time. no not the literal organ donating thing, but just the doing something good because it would be good. you have heard of puppy mills? i know that there are people in this world who are warped enough that they would move off to back woods montana or louisiana and set up their own ORGAN MILLS! they would pump out children as fast as they could just to sell the organs. and yes i mean ALL of them. but when you think of it it is only retroactive abortion. if one is wrong then the other is to!