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. …