Selling organs for profit after death?

drunkmonkey

Rather than "donate" my organs to the state I'd like my family to be reimbursed for them, is there any legal restrictions on selling someones body parts after death?

Samuel T. Cogley

Dunno but I remember a quite senior doctor in Ireland saying that we should pay for kidney donations. His argument was it costs €300K a year to have someone on dialysis, why not pay people €250K for a kidney, then if their remaining kidney ever failed there would be a huge supply of kidneys available.

Just thought you might find that one interesting, apologies if not.

seamus

My understanding is that in Ireland trading in human body parts is illegal for both purchaser and vendor, and it doesn't matter whether the part comes from a living or dead donor.

As a practice it's fraught with many ethical questions. Iran, for example, makes it legal to sell your organs under certain circumstances. As a consequence, there is no waiting list for kidneys in Iran, and people who need one can easily get one.

However, various studies have shown that the donors are most frequently from poorer socio-economic backgrounds and are donating the organ for the purposes of getting out of debt or similar financial struggles. They also find that the cash injection usually doesn't help the individual in the medium-to-long term and they remain in the same economic circumstances, but with poorer health on top of it.

End-of-life donation perhaps doesn't have the same issue, but opens up new problems. Like people ending the lives of family members (children especially) in pursuit of a big payout. Or even people ending their own lives to get a cash injection for their family.

The €250k mentioned would be insane; that's more than enough money to make someone consider getting their hands on it sooner. But a standard amount for any amount of organs, that's a nice payout but not life-changing - like €10k - might be enough to make people more willing to donate, without making sociopathic family members think about offing them.

stimpson

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Rather than "donate" my organs to the state I'd like my family to be reimbursed for them, is there any legal restrictions on selling someones body parts after death?

Would you consider a lease arrangement?

Peregrinus

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Rather than "donate" my organs to the state I'd like my family to be reimbursed for them, is there any legal restrictions on selling someones body parts after death?

You don't donate your organs to the state; what does the state want with your cast-off organs? You donate them to people in need of organs.

For certain organs, you can donate while you're still alive - if push comes to shove, you can get by with just the one kidney - but you're obviously thinking in terms of post mortem transplants.

Your family can't sell your organs for two reasons; one, they don't own them (and nor will they own them after your death) and, two, under the European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012 it's an offence to sell human organs for transplantation.

GM228

However it is possible that living donors could potentially receive "compensation" for donation, provided it is strictly limited to making good the expenses and loss of income related to the donation as prescribed by ministerial regulation, however such ministerial regulations have yet to be made despite plans for such in 2014.

drunkmonkey

Peregrinus wrote: »

Your family can't sell your organs for two reasons; one, they don't own them (and nor will they own them after your death) and, two, under the European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012 it's an offence to sell human organs for transplantation.

If I can't use them as I'm dead why don't they belong to my next of kin? So the state owns my body when I die?

Peregrinus

You're really hung up on the state, aren't you?

Nobody owns your body. A human body is not something that can be owned.

When you die, your legal personal representative has a duty to dispose of your body legally and (hopefully!) respectfully, but he doesn't own it. If he can't or won't do that, or if no legal personal representative can be identified, eventually the HSE will dispose of your body - again, legally and hopefully respectfully. The costs of doing so will be a charge against your estate.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

GM228

Fred Swanson wrote: »

Blood is routinely sold.

Blood isn't an organ though, the law applies to organs.

I believe that IBTS only sell the blood plasma, they stopped selling whole blood in 2002 apparently.

Pat Mustard

Not an organ so a bit OT but a woman bought Joe Dolan's hip bone, apparently.

http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/banter/trending/irish-woman-buys-joe-dolans-old-unattached-hip-bone-on-ebay-hopes-to-flog-it-31147809.html

coylemj

seamus wrote: »

.... various studies have shown that the donors are most frequently from poorer socio-economic backgrounds and are donating the organ for the purposes of getting out of debt or similar financial struggles. They also find that the cash injection usually doesn't help the individual in the medium-to-long term and they remain in the same economic circumstances, but with poorer health on top of it.

Paid organ donation sounds a lot like the Lotto.

GM228

Pat Mustard wrote: »

Not an organ so a bit OT but a woman bought Joe Dolan's hip bone, apparently.

http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/banter/trending/irish-woman-buys-joe-dolans-old-unattached-hip-bone-on-ebay-hopes-to-flog-it-31147809.html

I can picture the auto e-mail confirmation and the auto counters:-

"Congratulations on purchasing one of Joe Dolan's two hip bones.......

........25 units sold in the last 24 hours"

Grolschevik

Peregrinus wrote: »

Nobody owns your body. A human body is not something that can be owned.

Now you've got me thinking of the legal status of (movie style) zombies and the legality or other of (re)killing them.

Victor

Grolschevik wrote: »

Now you've got me thinking of the legal status of (movie style) zombies and the legality or other of (re)killing them.

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