US-based organisation sponsors "paid for organ donation" poll

The FAIR Foundation, a USE-based non-profit organisation that is working to reverse America’s organ donor crisis, is sponsoring an online poll to determine if citizens, as a living donor or a deceased donor family, would accept $50,000 to be an organ donor.

FAIR’s President and CEO, Dr. Richard Darling states, “Our country is experiencing an organ-donor crisis. What crisis? A transplant patient dies, on average, every 58 minutes waiting of the ‘Gift of Life’ because our government relies primarily on just one organ-donor policy—altruism.”

Statistics from the federally mandated non-profit that oversees organ transplant in the USA, UNOS, and the United States Renal Database show there are almost 113,000 patients on the waiting list today and another 317,000 patients are undergoing difficult 3-hour kidney dialysis treatments three times a week but they are not even on the transplant list yet.

Darling, “The waiting list for kidneys in some states is 8-10 years—a death sentence.”

The FAIR Foundation believes that if the American government incentivised organ donation with $50,000 the waiting list would be eliminated within five years.

Darling clarifies, “The payment to organ donors could be in cash, mortgage loan payments to avoid foreclosure, contributions to a child’s college education, to one’s retirement funds, an IRS tax credit or payment for funeral expenses for one’s deceased loved one.

Additionally under this policy a living kidney donor would also be reimbursed for medical expenses, lost wages and if the donor’s remaining kidney ever failed the donor would be moved to the top of the waiting list.

Would this cost taxpayers a dime?

Darling answers, “No, Medicare would pay the $50,000 and it would be a very cost- effective policy for taxpayers. According to the second largest provider of kidney dialysis, Davita, it costs the federal Medicare program $50,000 more to keep a patient on dialysis than to have them transplanted.

Darling continues, “Amazingly, the government-controlled non-profits that retrieve organs and tissues from deceased donors receive millions in revenue from selling those tissues as do many other for-profit companies that are expected to gross over $200 million by 2012 from donated tissues. Some of their employees receive over $450,000 in total compensation yet the deceased donor’s family that has donated the tissues or a living donor gets no compensation. This is immoral and grossly unfair.”

Can one buy an organ from your neighbour?

Darling responds, “No, under this policy of financially incentivising organ donation citizens cannot buy an organ from a neighbor or anyone except from the US Government."

But payment for organs is presently prohibited by law.

Darling responds, “Statistics provided by UNOS show that when that 1984 law was passed there was no waiting list and when it was initiated in 1989 the list was only 19,095. With the list now approaching 113,000 patients and 18 of those dying every day, past moralizing is no longer justifiable – we must shift the focus towards saving more lives.”