News Brief: Transplant surgeons endorse compensation for donor families
Although unanimously opposed to outright exchange of money for human cadaver donor organs, the ethics committee of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) recently expressed support for a pilot program that would give limited reimbursement for funeral expenses or a charitable contribution to the families of organ donors as a way of thanking them for allowing their relative’s organs to be used.
At its annual meeting held in April in Washing-ton, DC, ASTS members discussed possible incentives to encourage donation of cadaveric organs without driving away people willing to agree to donate for free, according to a report in the April 30, 2002, edition of The Washington Post.
In recent years, living organ donation has increased significantly. Last year in the United States, kidneys transplanted from live donors outnumbered those using cadaver kidneys. But the number of people agreeing to donate organs after their death still is very low, and even if a person expresses a wish to donate, family members may later override that decision.
Because federal law currently prohibits the sale of human organs, legislation would be required for a pilot program to begin. Proponents at the conference said that a pilot program of offering limited compensation would allow health care policy-makers to study its overall impact on donation levels as well as address ethical concerns, such as the possible compromising of informed consent and the potential for coercion of poor families.
Growing demand for donor organs has lengthened the average wait for an organ, with many patients expected to spend years on waiting lists. Desperation has pushed many patients to seek organs overseas where a black market for human organs flourishes in several countries despite legal bans on the sale of organs. More than 79,000 people in this country are waiting for donor organs.
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