人体器官的自由市场

M. Clay, W. Block
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Or believe that a responsible government would change the law that in effect if not by intention kills innocent people every day. Unfortunately, this is now happening in the United States. It is currently illegal to buy or sell human organs. While roughly 80,000 people need organ transplants every year, only about 20,000 people receive them annually3. These 20,000 body parts come from people who donate their organs as a gift to humanity. They receive no remuneration for their acts of generosity. Because people do not have an economic incentive to donate their organs many people take them to the grave where they will be of no use to anyone. The number of donated organs falls far short of meeting the demand. Consequently people die tragically and needlessly waiting for transplants. Diagram #1 illustrates this situation. If a market clearing price were but allowed, supply and demand would intersect at point B, under which circumstance there would be no shortage of transplantable organs. However, at the governmentally mandated price of zero, demand at point D is in excess of A; hence, the shortage is brought about by unwise state policy. This shortage has created numerous other problems. Doctors and medical professionals must chose who receives an organ and who will die waiting for one. They often base this decision on age, sex, health status, and a calculation of post operational life expectancy. For example a 60-year-old male, who would be expected to live five years after the operation, will be placed lower on the transplant list than a 10year-old girl, who can be expected to live a full and normal life if she receives this operation. At first glance this seems like a very equitable way of distributing the donated organs. But let us take a closer look. This practice requires fallible human beings to place more value on one life than another. The 60-year-old man did nothing of his own volition to be placed lower on the list. The 10-year-old girl did nothing to deserve the priority placement. This is hardly equitable. Rather, the current system enables medical bureaucrats to play god. Anyone who would take this role upon himself by that very fact establishes that he is not fit to do so. The shortage has also created a black market for transplantable organs. There have been cases where body parts have been stolen from living people. Because it illegal to buy and sell organs, their price is artificially high. This, in turn, encourages some people to engage in the mutilation of others for financial gain and others to enter into the black market. People are willing to pay these exorbitant costs to save their own life or that of a loved one. Under the present system one can sign up to be a donor at the local department of motor vehicles while applying for or renewing a driver's license or state identification card. 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These 20,000 body parts come from people who donate their organs as a gift to humanity. They receive no remuneration for their acts of generosity. Because people do not have an economic incentive to donate their organs many people take them to the grave where they will be of no use to anyone. The number of donated organs falls far short of meeting the demand. Consequently people die tragically and needlessly waiting for transplants. Diagram #1 illustrates this situation. If a market clearing price were but allowed, supply and demand would intersect at point B, under which circumstance there would be no shortage of transplantable organs. However, at the governmentally mandated price of zero, demand at point D is in excess of A; hence, the shortage is brought about by unwise state policy. This shortage has created numerous other problems. Doctors and medical professionals must chose who receives an organ and who will die waiting for one. 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引用次数: 15

摘要

提交人提请注意人体器官的短缺,随着外科手术方法的改进,这些器官往往可以在其主人因死亡而无法使用它们后用来挽救活着的人的生命。他们建议将人体器官的销售合法化,作为一种合法的自由市场活动,并认为在这种情况下,人体器官的价格将降至足够低的水平,以阻止目前法律旨在防止的人体器官盗窃。关键词:人体器官,器官捐献,医疗保险,医疗补助,自由市场,合法化每年都有成千上万的男人、女人和孩子因为一条法律——一条很容易被修改的简单立法——而不必要地受苦和死亡。有人可能会认为这样的事情只会发生在第三世界国家。或者相信一个负责任的政府会改变每天都在杀害无辜人民的法律。不幸的是,这正在美国发生。目前买卖人体器官是非法的。虽然每年大约有8万人需要器官移植,但只有大约2万人接受了移植。这两万个身体部位来自那些将自己的器官捐赠给人类的人。他们的慷慨行为没有得到报酬。因为人们没有经济上的动机去捐献他们的器官,许多人把他们带进坟墓,在那里他们对任何人都没有用处。捐献器官的数量远远不能满足需求。结果,人们在等待移植的过程中悲惨而不必要地死去。图1说明了这种情况。如果允许市场出清价格,供给和需求将在B点相交,在这种情况下,移植器官不会短缺。然而,在政府规定的价格为零时,D点的需求超过A点;因此,短缺是不明智的国家政策造成的。这种短缺还造成了许多其他问题。医生和医疗专业人员必须选择谁接受器官移植,谁将因等待器官移植而死亡。他们通常根据年龄、性别、健康状况和对手术后预期寿命的计算作出这一决定。例如,一名60岁的男性,在手术后预计能活5年,在移植名单上的排名将低于一名10岁的女孩,而后者如果接受手术,预计能过上完整而正常的生活。乍一看,这似乎是一种非常公平的分配捐赠器官的方式。但让我们仔细看看。这种做法需要易犯错误的人更重视一个生命而不是另一个生命。这位60岁的老人并没有自愿被排在名单的后面。这个10岁的女孩没有做任何值得优先安置的事情。这很难说是公平的。更确切地说,当前的体制让医疗官僚扮演上帝的角色。任何想要承担这一角色的人都不适合这样做。器官短缺也催生了器官移植黑市。曾经有过从活人身上偷取身体部位的案例。因为买卖器官是非法的,它们的价格被人为地抬高了。这反过来又鼓励一些人为了经济利益而肢解他人,而另一些人则进入黑市。人们愿意付出这些高昂的代价来挽救自己或亲人的生命。在目前的制度下,人们可以在申请或更新驾驶执照或州身份证时,在当地机动车辆部门注册成为捐赠者。这个过程只涉及一个问题:“你愿意成为器官捐赠者吗?”在捐赠者的驾驶执照或州身份证的背面会有这样的标记。然而,当捐赠者死亡时,医疗专业人员仍然必须征求近亲的同意。…
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A Free Market for Human Organs
The authors draw attention to the shortage of human organs which, as surgical methods improve, can frequently be used to save the lives of the living after their owners are deprived of their use by death. They propose the legalization of the sale of body parts as a legitimate free market activity, and argue that in such conditions the price of human body parts would fall to a sufficiently low level to discourage the theft of human organs which the present laws are intended to prevent. Key Words: Human organs, Organ donation, Medicare, Medicaid, free markets, legalization. Every year thousands of men, women and children1 needlessly suffer and die because of a law, a simple legislative enactment that could easily be changed2. One may think that something like this could only happen in a third world country. Or believe that a responsible government would change the law that in effect if not by intention kills innocent people every day. Unfortunately, this is now happening in the United States. It is currently illegal to buy or sell human organs. While roughly 80,000 people need organ transplants every year, only about 20,000 people receive them annually3. These 20,000 body parts come from people who donate their organs as a gift to humanity. They receive no remuneration for their acts of generosity. Because people do not have an economic incentive to donate their organs many people take them to the grave where they will be of no use to anyone. The number of donated organs falls far short of meeting the demand. Consequently people die tragically and needlessly waiting for transplants. Diagram #1 illustrates this situation. If a market clearing price were but allowed, supply and demand would intersect at point B, under which circumstance there would be no shortage of transplantable organs. However, at the governmentally mandated price of zero, demand at point D is in excess of A; hence, the shortage is brought about by unwise state policy. This shortage has created numerous other problems. Doctors and medical professionals must chose who receives an organ and who will die waiting for one. They often base this decision on age, sex, health status, and a calculation of post operational life expectancy. For example a 60-year-old male, who would be expected to live five years after the operation, will be placed lower on the transplant list than a 10year-old girl, who can be expected to live a full and normal life if she receives this operation. At first glance this seems like a very equitable way of distributing the donated organs. But let us take a closer look. This practice requires fallible human beings to place more value on one life than another. The 60-year-old man did nothing of his own volition to be placed lower on the list. The 10-year-old girl did nothing to deserve the priority placement. This is hardly equitable. Rather, the current system enables medical bureaucrats to play god. Anyone who would take this role upon himself by that very fact establishes that he is not fit to do so. The shortage has also created a black market for transplantable organs. There have been cases where body parts have been stolen from living people. Because it illegal to buy and sell organs, their price is artificially high. This, in turn, encourages some people to engage in the mutilation of others for financial gain and others to enter into the black market. People are willing to pay these exorbitant costs to save their own life or that of a loved one. Under the present system one can sign up to be a donor at the local department of motor vehicles while applying for or renewing a driver's license or state identification card. This process involves only one question: "Would you like to be an organ donor?" A mark to that effect is placed on the back of the donor's driver's license or state identification card. However, when the donor dies a medical professional must still seek the consent to the next of kin. …
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Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies
Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies Social Sciences-Political Science and International Relations
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期刊介绍: The quarterly Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies (ISSN 0193-5941), which has been published regularly since 1976, is a peer-reviewed academic journal devoted to scholarly papers which present in depth information on contemporary issues of primarily international interest. The emphasis is on factual information rather than purely theoretical or historical papers, although it welcomes an historical approach to contemporary situations where this serves to clarify the causal background to present day problems.
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