In October of 2011, the first proven case of black market organ trafficking in the United States was exposed to the public. New Yorker Levy Izhak Rosenbaum plead guilty to the crime of facilitating illegal kidney transplants, but argued that his lawbreaking was humane and solely out of benevolence. Rosenbaum’s lawyer reiterated his intentions by stating, “The transplants were successful and the donors and recipients are now leading full and healthy lives.” But with 122,581 American men, woman, and children in need of a kidney transplant, and only an average of 16,500 kidney operations performed, you can’t really blame Rosenbaum for trying to help. In fact, 22 people die each day waiting for transplants that will never take place due to the growing shortage of donated organs. With such morbid and hopeless statistics, even the most utterly conventional of people are asking, “What’s wrong with selling organs?”.

This week in my economy class, we discussed the legalization of organ sales. I was taken back at first; I couldn’t imagine someone receiving a monetary value for their body parts. But after further research and contemplation, I couldn’t believe that the sale of organs is illegal, and that thousands of people are dying because of it. I couldn’t help but think that more people feel similarly to how I feel, and that perhaps more widespread exposure is necessary to spark change. In Anthony Gregory’s article, Why Legalizing Organ Sales Would Help to Save Lives, End Violence, he describes a study that was conducted to test if increased knowledge would change people’s opinions on the idea of legalization as an appropriate solution. Gregory states, “In 2008, six experts took on this issue in an Oxford-style debate hosted by National Public Radio. By the end, those in the audience who favored allowing the market climbed from 44 to 60 percent.” So with deaths due to a lack of available organs steadily climbing, and more and more people jumping on board with legalizing the market, why is the sale of organs STILL illegal?

Gregory puts it quite simply: “Many protest that an organ market will lead to unfair advantages for the rich, but this is a characteristic of the current trade.” If organs are allowed to be sold and purchased at any price, lives will only be saved for the people who can afford the $15,000-$25,000 price of a functional organ. But is this method of trade any different than, say, going to the grocery store? Or purchasing football tickets? No; whoever wants to pay the price for apples will get apples, just as those willing to spend more money on tickets will get better seats at the game. If you want to think about it on a more positive note, regardless of who is purchasing the organ, lives are still ultimately being saved, and isn’t that the overall goal? If we can save even just one life, isn’t it worth it? In addition, Nobel Prize Winning economists argue that paying donors for their organs would finally eliminate the supply-demand gap, ultimately eradicating the organ shortage.

Concurrent to saving lives, legalizing the sale of organs will knock out a large portion of the black market and bring a safer, more effective market into the open. Gregory explains how in Japan, you can buy livers and kidneys “harvested from executed Chinese prisoners”, if you are willing to pay the right price. The black market is just as bad in India, where police invaded an organ ring that had taken up to 500 kidneys from poor laborers. Gregory includes in his article that “Everywhere from Latin America to the former Soviet Republics, from the Philippines to South Africa, a huge network has emerged typified by threats, coercion, intimidation, extortion, and shoddy surgeries.” And that would explain why The World Health Organization estimates 20% of kidney transplants around the world to be accounted for by the black market alone. And the victims of these organ related crimes are not the only people who are in danger as a result of the black market. Even though black market doctors and surgeons may have the best of intentions, they may not be adequately trained and could end up doing more harm than good to their patients. Just as Andrew states in class, medicine can be bad, depending on who it is in the hands of. Eliminating the black market would help to reduce the need for unsafe procedures performed by underqualified surgeons. Additionally, the dangers and violence associated with the black market would decrease significantly. Just as transplant surgeon Nadley Hakim at St. Mary’s Hospital in London pointed out, “this trade is going on anyway, why not have a controlled trade where if someone wants to donate a kidney for a particular price, that would be acceptable? If it is done safely, the donor will not suffer.”

As you were reading this blog post, someone may have been added to the waiting list for an organ transplant. It happens every 10 minutes, and it will continue to happen until a difference is made. If you were not a supporter of legalizing organ sales before, I hope I have convinced you differently now. But if not, I hope that you were made more aware of this growing issue and how sensible changes can and must be made.

If you would like to learn more about organ donation and/or donating an organ, please visit this website.