Organ Shortage Opportunity Cost

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Opportunity Cost The ongoing disputes regarding the misallocation of the current organ supply in the United States have taken the attention away from the main issue, which is organ shortage. The policy that yields this life taking controversy has been in place since the kidney transplants first became feasible in the mid-1950s (Tabarrok 90). This tragic policy was then made into a law by United States senator Albert Gore with the passage of the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 (Sandford, Rocchiccioli 276). This act makes the purchase or sell of human organs, even cadaveric organs, making it a felony (Tabarrok 90). As a result of our current policy miserably failing to address the organ shortage twelve people die each day…show more content…
The propose organ donation system intends to alleviate some of the burden placed on transplant patient by providing a financial incentive either to the person that the donor chooses at the time of enrollment to be the recipient of the incentive at the time of death (Tabarrok 97). The donor would also have the option to have his burial paid for instead (Tabarrok 97). This would distribute the financial capital not only between the transplant doctors and the growing number of transplant centers which only perform fewer than five transplants a year, but also to the most affected, the donor (Tabarrok 93). Because the agent which is the hospital that collects the donated organ cannot legally sell them. The only way for hospitals are able to collect the profits is by performing the transplant operation. The current profits that go uncollected by the donor do not disappear but yet are distributed between the surgeon doctor and the hospital (Tabarrok 91). Many questions have been raised as to where we would acquire the funds for the incentives, but studies have been done that show that even with an additional 500 kidney donors which would equal to 1000 kidneys gained. These saving would give $30 million to our health care system…show more content…
The current organ donation system has clearly failed at addressing the reoccurring issue with the lack of organ donations as a result many have died and is currently costing the country Billions of dollars. Statistic from June16, 2004 shows that there were 85,744 waiting list candidates waiting to receive an organ and only 6540 transplant were made which is only a mere ten percent of the waiting list (Richard, Schultz 332). This public turmoil had caused many innovative researcher and economist to come up with solution for the ongoing lack of donations in the United States and the world. Unfortunately moral and ethical concerns will have to be the opportunity cost of all the life could be

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