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Human Organ Sales

Beth

Human Organ Sales 

The 1984 National Organ Transplant defines human organ sales as the buying and selling human organs for transplanting for monetary exchange. The Act generally describes organ sale as an operation or activity that entails two individuals, the first person being the organ’s donor and the second being the donated organ receiver or individuals in need. The case in the context is that every day across the globe, many people are devastated by the news of kidney failure, and they are placed on dialysis until a kidney is available. According to the United States Services Administration (2020), one person is put on the national transplant waiting list every ten minutes (Cohen, 2013). Because of the utter desperation and high demand in today’s world, human organ sales have become more common than ever thought in history. Although in 1988, President Reagan signed the National Organ Transplant Act, which provided the federal legal structure for getting donations and relocating organs, today there is an exponential increase in demand based on the number of individuals on the waiting list (Adido, 2018). On the other hand, the number of donors and transplants is increasingly becoming scarce each year. Under U.S. law, human organs sale is illegal, and engaging in it is considered criminal activity. The criminal dimension arises when organ transplant procedure is violated, i.e., obtaining without being placed on the waiting list (Koplin, 2018). Additionally, it becomes criminal when human organ sale is executed by force. Accordingly, due to the organ shortage, modern-day society is faced with the problem of increased black market and organ broker activities, and these activities are of a criminal nature and may result in the exploitation of donors. Our assignment writing help is at affordable prices to students of all academic levels and academic disciplines.

Over the years, the black market for human organ sales has exponentially grown. Currently, black markets are not only found in the U.S. but also in countries globally. The black market contains contraband, immoral, and illegal products for monetary exchange, including organs. Organ trafficking is difficult to track in the black market, with estimates showing a booming $840 million to $1.7 billion yearly (Cohen, 2013). The inadequate organ donation and increased number of people wait-listed for transplants establish the basis of the black market and human trafficking. Estimates by the World Health Organization reveal that 660,000 people globally need any type of transplant, but only 10%  are successful. The statistics imply a need to regulate the market to compensate legal organs to meet demand. The above concept is referred to as “Transplant Tourism,” which has only been achieved in Iran. It is only in Iran that the legal sale of organs is allowed, and organs are sold legally (Koplin, 2018). The aim was to bridge the gap between the supply and demand for organs in a conventional approach. Although the purpose of the Iranian government allowing sale is a great idea, there exist flaws that criminals can exploit. When compensation is involved in the donation of an organ, it becomes a sale, and this becomes criminal and possibly increases health complications compared with legally acquired organs through donation. The black market emerges with organ brokers, and this is illegal under the laws in most countries. Organ brokers determine an organ’s how, when, why, and source. They can also act as good Samaritans. The chain or network of organ trade includes brokers, mobile surgeons, patients, and sellers. The role of the brokers is to mitigate the shortage pertinent to supply and increasing demand (Ambagtsheer, Zaitch, & Weimar, 2013). Demographics of organ brokers concerning paid donors are associated with the uneducated and the poor, as they are easy targets in the chain. Broking in the context of selling human organs is illegal because the broker takes advantage of both the recipient and the seller attributed to the despair and vulnerability to gain the potential monetary value as well as an easy target for manipulation. Evidently, most actions of brokers dealing with organs are considered criminal because they are ethnically and morally wrong. The justification for criminalizing organ sales by brokers is the effect of compensation undermining voluntary organ donations. The chain effect of organ sales in the black market has a direct effect on organ donation. The morality and ethics pertinent to selling and buying organs in any context are complex. Therefore, to justify the implication of the increase, the black market creates more harm than benefits. Regardless of whether the market is regulated, the sale of human organs would still have ethical and moral issues that would be considered criminal. The morals and ethics concerning organ donation and the market are argumentative in the context of increasing supply. Even if the underlying market is regulated in regard to sales, there would be the aspect of corruption, and the black market would not be eliminated completely. Therefore, human organ sales should be declared criminal to foster a donation approach.

The donation of human organs in exchange for monetary value should be considered illegal, unethical, and immoral in most countries (Cohen, 2013). Regarding the transplantation of human organs in modern history, Iran, as noted earlier, is the only nation that has a legal and systematic system regulating its sale. In the past decade, there have been countries that have allowed or legalized the framework or the system of transplanting human organs. Some of these countries include but are not limited to China, the Philippines, and India. There has been a dramatic decrease in the international demand for human organs attributed to the past legalization of human organ sales in these countries. The reason is that patients who have experienced organ failures have preferred to acquire organs by means of donation in legally accepted ways (Koplin, 2018). However, this approach has encountered several problems.

In the Philippines, there have been recorded instances whereby donors of organs have been fraudulently subjected to unrealistic promises of monetary compensation so as to exchange their organs for donations. Concerning successful cases where persons who had donated were compensated, they received monetary compensations that were way lower than the promised amount. Due to the fact that these instances happened even with the existence of a legalized framework of human organ transplantation, it could be argued without a doubt that there are still many legal and ethical shortcomings in countries that have organ transplant organ transportation. Another encountered problem in this context is evident in other countries, including China and India, which had legalized human organ sales in the past. In these countries, patients who got organ donations claimed that they suffered other cases of organ failures after the operation. They were advised to undergo another organ transplantation procedure, which entailed searching for another donor, resulting in double payment (Di Nicola, 2013). It would be true to claim that such unfortunate cases resulted from the absence of a standardized follow-up healthcare system for patients who have undergone organ transplants. In case the patients had quality post-organ transplant treatment, then the likelihood of repeated organ failure and new transplant would be minimized considerably.

Human organ sale and transplantation can potentially save many patients’ lives. Examples are notable patients who have spent a lot of funds and time in donor waiting. In refutation, it is vital to know that if countries are to employ legal organ transplantation systems, they have to adopt the right approach such that both donors and receivers have transparent agreements and rights before trading their organs (Koplin, 2018). In China’s case, as a way of addressing long waiting in lines for organ donation, they resorted to harvesting organs from deceased or executed prisoners. The legality of this case was a consensual agreement between the prisoners and China’s government (Adido, 2018). However, the program encountered numerous cases of agreement breaches that were exposed. After the exposure and scrutiny from the international community, China’s government abandoned this organ transplant regulation approach.

In conclusion, the arguments for criminalizing the sale of human organs are more justifiable than legalizing transplantation on the grounds of containing the black market, broker’s illegal activities, and exploitation of the poor. In alignment with this, it is suggested that policymakers examine the issue prior to making significant reforms in the existing strict policies that criminalize human organ transplantation. This will ensure that issues and problems encountered concerning the legalization of human organ sales are minimized or will not occur again.

References

Adido, T. O. (2018). Schools of Thought on Transplant Tourism and the Creation of Regulated Markets in Human Organs. In Transplant Tourism (pp. 24-47). Brill Nijhoff.

Ambagtsheer, F., Zaitch, D., & Weimar, W. (2013). The battle for human organs: Organ trafficking and transplant tourism in a global context. Global Crime, 14(1), 1-26.

Cohen, I. G. (2013). Transplant tourism: the ethics and regulation of international markets for organs. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 41(1), 269-285.

Di Nicola, A. (2013). 3 Researching into human trafficking: Issues and problems. In Human trafficking (pp. 61-84). Willan.

Koplin, J. J. (2018). Beyond fair benefits: Reconsidering exploitation arguments against organ markets. Health Care Analysis, 26(1), 33-47.

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Question 

Definition Argument Essay Assignment

Goal

Write a 1,500-1,750-word essay using five to seven academic resources in which you argue that a contested “case” involving the sale, trade, or donation of human organs fits (or does not fit) within a given category. A case may include a specific news article, story, or incident illustrating a dilemma or controversy relating to the exchange of human organs. The case does not need to be a court case.

Human Organ Sales

Directions

Follow these steps when composing your essay:

  1. Start by selecting a controversial case found in the media involving the sale, trade, or donation of human organs. For example, an appropriate case might include a story in the news about an organ broker, and the term to define might be “criminal.”
  2. Decide what category you think your case belongs in, with the understanding that others may disagree with you about the definition of your category, and/or whether your chosen case matches your category.
  3. In the opening of your essay, introduce the case you will examine and pose your definition question. Do not simply summarize here. Instead, introduce the issue and offer context.
  4. To support your argument, define the boundaries of your category (criteria) by using a commonly used definition or by developing your own extended definition. Defining your boundaries simply means naming the criteria by which you will discuss your chosen case involving the sale, trade, or donation of human organs. If you determine, for example, that an organ broker is a criminal, what criteria constitute this? A criminal may intentionally harm others, which could be one of your criteria.
  5. In the second part of your argument (the match), show how your case meets (or does not meet) your definition criteria. Perhaps by comparing or sizing up your controversial case to other cases can help you to develop your argument.

This essay is NOT simply a persuasive essay on the sale, trade, or donation of human organs. It is an argumentative essay where the writer explains what a term means and uses a specific case to explore the meaning of that term in depth.

Final Draft Grading

The essay will be graded using a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the assignment criteria and expectations.

Sources

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