The Ethics Of Compensating Organ Donors - Podcast

Northwest Public Radio


Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan, in Washington. Each year, too many people die waiting for a transplant. Just about everybody agrees that the current system to distribute organs is both ethical and fair, but it simply doesn't provide enough, and some argue it's time to change.

A federal law makes it illegal to buy or sell organs for transplant. This month, an opinion poll by NPR and Thomson Reuters finds that about 60 percent of Americans would support modest compensation. The survey asked about kidneys, bone marrow, parts of a liver, organs that can be removed from the living.

If you checked off the donor box, would you consider selling an organ? We would also like to hear from those of you on the waiting list: Would you consider buying one? 800-989-8255. Email us: talk@npr.org. You can also join the conversation on our website. That's at npr.org. Click on TALK OF THE NATION.

Later in the program, President Obama disappointed young voters and created do-it-yourself politics - at least according to an op-ed writer. But first, we start with NPR's Scott Hensley, host of Shots, NPR's health blog, and he's here with us in Studio 3A. Nice to have you on the program.

SCOTT HENSLEY, BYLINE: Great to be here, Neal.

CONAN: And 60 percent sounds like a big number, but it comes with some conditions.

HENSLEY: Yeah. We asked, as you pointed out, about the donations you could make while still alive, and we also asked what kinds of compensation. And the majority, the 60-percent number that you referred to, applied to people getting a credit for some kind of future health care needs, like insurance or some other kind of care that they might require.

When it came to cash compensation or tax credits or even tuition reimbursement, people weren't so keen on that. That only got in the 40-percent range.

Read more- listen to podcast: http://www.nwpr.org/post/ethics-compensating-organ-donors

{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}