Drew Carey Speaks--Kidneys for Sale

[Zach]

Some thoughts from Drew Carey of "The Price is Right."
 

http://reason.tv/video/show/333.html

What are your thoughts?
 

[Rerun]

RIGHT ON!  This is what I've been saying for years.  Donors are the only ones not paid for their service.  If it is such a benevolent act than let the Surgeons do it for free.  Let the hospitals do it for free!  Come on.  The poor would be treated no differently in the United States.  If you are in the kidney program then there would be follow-up with the donor just as there is now.  And the list would be shorter once the rich people get their kidneys.

If the government paid the donor Medicare would save millions. 

Here is the kicker...... DaVita would go out of business and so would some drug companies.  Sick dialysis patients keep them in business.   

 

[kellyt]

I vote....YES!   

That would be so cool if at the end of The Price is Right Drew would say "Remember to donate those kidneys/organs!" instead of what Bob said about spay and neutering your pets!           

[KT0930]

I vote....YES!   

That would be so cool if at the end of The Price is Right Drew would say "Remember to donate those kidneys/organs!" instead of what Bob said about spay and neutering your pets!           

What a great idea, kelly! I love it!! 

[kimcanada]

I want a kidney so bad I can taste it (not really just a saying) but in my heart of hearts I can't imagine...me... buying a kidney.  What a thought provoking video

[okarol]

I have heard Sally Satel's arguments in favor of selling kidneys before, and I would love to think that it's a viable option - but I can imagine a few pitfalls. I also have spoken to Virginia Postrel on the phone, she wrote an article about online forums for Forbes magazine and I was interviewed for it. They are both reasonable, credible women. The doctor from UCLA gives the same arguments I have heard over and over - the rich get kidneys and the poor give up organs. But that can be resolved through transplants being arranged through the hospital, the donor and recipient do not meet, and Medicare or something similar pays the donor directly.

I think if potential donors were registered in their local area, evaluated thoroughly, then donate anonymously, and are paid a flat rate, then it just might work.

The problem is that much of a person's health history comes from them directly. If they haven't been to a doctor for a long time, all you have is their words, and as Dr. House always says on TV, "People lie." If you need money and want to sell your kidney, wouldn't you portray your health in the best possible way? In order to be accepted as a suitable donor, you wouldn't be honest about promiscuity, or past drug use, or traveling outside the country, or recent illnesses, or high-risk sexual activity, or alcoholism, or a family history of diabetes or hypertension. These are just a few examples of the kinds of things that a transplant center would not be able to ascertain without information from the potential donor. Many things just do not show up in lab tests.

There's other issues that could come up, but to figure these out you need to be able to think like a criminal or a conman. How could someone corrupt the system? For example, if you're a pimp, and you aren't bringing in enough business, so you tell your girls that they've gotta go get signed up as donors, and the money goes back to the bad guy; again, there's no incentive for the donors to be honest about their health habits, and something could come up later, for them, or the recipient. Takes selling your body to a whole new level.  And what if you're a drug dealer, and you pressure the addicts who owe you money to go donate a kidney to pay the debt. Then later on the addict needs money again, what does he sell? I am sure there are scenarios we haven't even imagined.

What if the donor experiences health problems as a result of the surgery? Do they get health insurance coverage for a year? Two years? Who follows up to be sure they are okay?

Well those are a few thoughts. Thanks for the video Zach, it definitely makes you think.

Oh by the way... I don't understand why the video brings up the guy who stole deceased body parts and sold them - what's that got to do with living donation?

[AlasdairUK]

I have heard Sally Satel's arguments in favor of selling kidneys before, and I would love to think that it's a viable option - but I can imagine a few pitfalls. I also have spoken to Virginia Postrel on the phone, she wrote an article about online forums for Forbes magazine and I was interviewed for it. They are both reasonable, credible women. The doctor from UCLA gives the same arguments I have heard over and over - the rich get kidneys and the poor give up organs. But that can be resolved through transplants being arranged through the hospital, the donor and recipient do not meet, and Medicare or something similar pays the donor directly.

I think if potential donors were registered in their local area, evaluated thoroughly, then donate anonymously, and are paid a flat rate, then it just might work.

The problem is that much of a person's health history comes from them directly. If they haven't been to a doctor for a long time, all you have is their words, and as Dr. House always says on TV, "People lie." If you need money and want to sell your kidney, wouldn't you portray your health in the best possible way? In order to be accepted as a suitable donor, you wouldn't be honest about promiscuity, or past drug use, or traveling outside the country, or recent illnesses, or high-risk sexual activity, or alcoholism, or a family history of diabetes or hypertension. These are just a few examples of the kinds of things that a transplant center would not be able to ascertain without information from the potential donor. Many things just do not show up in lab tests.

There's other issues that could come up, but to figure these out you need to be able to think like a criminal or a conman. How could someone corrupt the system? For example, if you're a pimp, and you aren't bringing in enough business, so you tell your girls that they've gotta go get signed up as donors, and the money goes back to the bad guy; again, there's no incentive for the donors to be honest about their health habits, and something could come up later, for them, or the recipient. Takes selling your body to a whole new level. And what if you're a drug dealer, and you pressure the addicts who owe you money to go donate a kidney to pay the debt. Then later on the addict needs money again, what does he sell? I am sure there are scenarios we haven't even imagined.

What if the donor experiences health problems as a result of the surgery? Do they get health insurance coverage for a year? Two years? Who follows up to be sure they are okay?

Well those are a few thoughts. Thanks for the video Zach, it definitely makes you think.

Oh by the way... I don't understand why the video brings up the guy who stole deceased body parts and sold them - what's that got to do with living donation?

I'm not against the concept of paying organ donors and in the UK if the government paid live donors out of a central fund and then gave the allocated kidneys along the lines as the transplant list according to tissue typing with anonymity. The funds would be able to come from the savings of having to have patients on dialysis. While this sounds OK in theory I'm sure that the system would be abused by certain individuals, the poor and desperate would come off worse.