The U.S. organ procurement system : a prescription for reform
by David L. Kaserman, A. H. Barnett (Author)
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More than 50,000 people have died over the past thirty years because of a growing shortage of cadaveric human organs -- more people than were killed in the Vietnam War. Over the past forty years, better techniques and landmark drugs have greatly improved the transplant success rates for kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs, and other organs. But every year, for at least the past thirty years, the number of patients needing an organ transplant has consistently exceeded the number of organs show more supplied. It is estimated that less than half of the almost 80,000 people currently on waiting lists will live to receive the transplants. In The U.S. Organ Procurement System: A Prescription for Reform, economists David L. Kaserman and A. H. Barnett isolate the procurement issue from all others and make a compelling and persuasive case for markets in cadaveric organs. The authors argue that the organ shortage is the direct consequence of a long-standing policy -- codified in 1984 -- that prohibits any payment whatsoever to the families of the recently deceased. All others in the transplant process -- including surgeons, nurses, and organ procurement officials -- are paid for their services. But the family of the donor must go uncompensated. Kaserman and Barnett suggest that many deaths could be avoided by the adoption of a more intelligent public policy for cadaveric organ procurement. They argue that the organ shortage is no exception to the economic reasoning that a straightforward solution to any shortage is to allow price to rise to its equilibrium, market-clearing level. Market prices provide incentives that induce us to do many things that we would not otherwise do, such as go to work. Empiricalestimates suggest that the organ shortage could be resolved at a price of less than $1,000 per donor -- a tiny fraction of the cost of a transplant operation and an even smaller fraction of the cost of keeping patients alive thro show lessTags
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David L. Kaserman is the Torchmark Professor of Economics at Auburn University.
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2002-01-01
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- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
