Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Investing

A Legal Market for Organs

by March 12, 2025
March 12, 2025
A Legal Market for Organs

Jeffrey Miron

The National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) of 1984 outlawed the sale of human organs. Thus, NOTA cemented an altruism-based system where organs are donated freely rather than exchanged for money. As a result, the US relies on voluntary donations from living and deceased donors—a system with significant shortcomings.

Under the current system, over 100,000 Americans are on waiting lists, which puts them at risk for their ongoing conditions and means some 5,600 people die each year waiting for a transplant. The allocation of donated organs is also controversial; the current system bypasses patients next in line in 20 percent of transplants from deceased donors. In the past five years, over 1,200 “skipped” recipients have died.

An alternative approach is to legalize the purchase and sale of organs. This would expand the supply—from living and deceased donors—benefiting both the recipients and the donors.

This approach might sound bizarre, but it exists. In 1988, Iran implemented a system in which donors receive standardized financial compensation along with benefits like health insurance. Kidney transplant rates doubled, and by 1999, the waitlist was gone. The system did not detract from deceased donations—in 2000, only 1.8 percent of donors were deceased, compared to 12 percent in 2004 and 2005. This open organ market eradicated many of the illegal, underground kidney transplants that once flourished.

Some may claim an open market exploits the poor, but this is not the case. People have different tastes and genetic advantages suited for organ donation, so poverty does not solely determine who supplies. Moreover, many other forms of work are both necessary and unpleasant, bodily (surrogacy) or not (cleaning toilets).

Finally, some critics also contend that a legal market would allow the wealthy to monopolize receipt of the legally supplied organs. Distribution, however, is a separate question. Both government-sponsored and private health insurance could purchase organs for poor recipients; the average kidney price in Iran is only about $4,400.

Thus, instead of an altruism-based system that results in life-ending shortages, the US should adopt an open organ market.

This article appeared on Substack on March 12, 2025. Jonah Karafiol, a student at Harvard College, co-wrote this post.

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
‘Overblown’ reports on Israel-Lebanon normalization risk hindering border talks before they begin: official
next post
GOP moves to defund hospitals that perform sex-change procedures on minors

You may also like

Friday Feature: Kipe Academy

December 13, 2024

When Property Owners Lose the Right to Exclude,...

February 16, 2024

The State of Student Loan Forgiveness: June 2024

June 3, 2024

Friday Feature: SEA Homeschoolers

December 6, 2024

To Head Off Strongman Governance, Keep Presidential Power...

January 31, 2024

Breaking the NIMBY Feedback Loop in Vermont

March 7, 2025

Who You Calling Far Right?

March 28, 2024

CBO Projects Challenging Fiscal Future in Long‐​Term Budget...

June 29, 2023

Questioning the Housing Crisis: Americans Regularly Move to...

December 23, 2024

A US Sovereign Wealth Fund and Tariffs

March 12, 2025

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Elon Musk warpath against Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ rattles House GOP

      June 4, 2025
    • Durbin obstruction threat chills Senate as Trump nominees hang in balance

      June 4, 2025
    • Elon Musk posts ‘Kill Bill’ meme in latest push to nix Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

      June 4, 2025
    • Why ADX Can Mislead You — And How to Avoid It

      June 4, 2025
    • S&P 500 on the Verge of 6,000: What’s at Stake?

      June 4, 2025
    • Johnson says Republicans ‘don’t have time’ to craft new Trump plan despite Musk’s call to ‘KILL the BILL’

      June 4, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,143)
    • Investing (2,006)
    • Politics (15,518)
    • Stocks (3,127)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved