Could Paying Organ Donors Help Save More Lives?

For many patients, they may be dependent on a new organ in order to live a longer, fuller life. While particular organs can be so sparse that some may never meet their needs while on the waiting list, a recent study shows that a way to lessen the waiting period could be to pay or make donations so that organs, specifically kidneys, can help save more lives.

According to a team of Canadian researchers, they found that paying $10,000 for a kidney helped increase donations by up to five percent. They also found that paying donors helped to reduce the costs that the health care system pays by $340 per patient. Researchers believe that giving donors money can help reduce costs via the health care system if each patient were to pay $340. They also stated that their five percent estimation could be viewed as a conservative number, but that donations may actually increase by 10 or even 20 percent the amount of money, the health care system could save thousands of dollars. The researchers explained that people who wait for a kidney could be on the line for years and pay over ten grand for it.

In order to study the method better, researchers conducted a survey in order to see if people could accept this type of deal. The researchers examined 3,000 Canadians to find that 70 percent of people reported being okay with compensation for organs. However, a quarter of only doctors agreed. Researchers also found that around 50 percent of people stated that compensation could change their minds on organ donations.

Many believe that the main issue revolves around overcoming whether or not paying for organs is ethical.

What do you think?

More information regarding the study can be found via the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.