davidl@tekecs.UUCP (David Levine) (09/21/83)
>From the No-Longer-SF file:
Dr. Barry Jacobs, Washington (DC) surgeon, is trying to start a
nationwide program in which healthy people would be able to donate
kidneys in exchange for money. His organization would act as a
clearinghouse for the donated kidneys and would distribute them to
hospitals performing transplants for a $5000 brokerage fee. The money
collected would be used to help fund kidney research. So far he has
received favorable responses from 30 of the 1000 hospitals he has
contacted in the last week. He eventually plans to contact 7500
hospitals.
Rep. Albert Gore (D-Tenn.) is fighting this proposal. He claims that
it will reduce voluntary donations, citing the difference in blood
donations between the U.S., where there are paid blood banks, and the
U.K., where paid blood banks are illegal. He also says that allowing
people to donate organs for money is dehumanizing and could lead to the
poor being used as spare parts for the rich. He is also concerned
about the possibility of this being extended to Third World nations
providing organs for the developed nations.
I got this information from a typical five-minute Today show interview
(Wednesday, Sep. 21, around 8:20 AM), and that's about all I got out of
it. Have we reached a new Plateau?
-- David D. Levine (...decvax!tektronix!tekecs!davidl) [UUCP]
(...tekecs!davidl.tektronix@rand-relay) [ARPA]