Organ Harvesting

Organ harvesting and trafficking is on the rise as desperate individuals seek transplants in a world devoid of sufficient donors. The sale of organs, prohibited in 1984 with NOTA (National Organ Transplant Act), continues through the black market. The reasons for the illegal sale vary, many times directly related to financial status, yet the aftereffect remains the same; organ harvesting should remain illegal. The risk associated with such a process surmounts the received revenue. The harvesting of an individuals organ comes with risk to both donor and recipient. Whether in a top rated hospital with the best medical staff or a back alley lacking in sanitation, the odds are not always favorable when going "under the knife". The high cost of cyclosporine, a drug used in suppressing immune reactions, and lack of follow up care, place both recipient and seller at risk of infection and organ rejection. Most traffickers prey on lower-class citizens, persuading with monetary incentives. In the Bloomberg article, however, it is stated that traffickers typically pay $10,000 to the seller of a kidney and collect an approximate $140,000 profit.

The immense difficulty in preserving organs also causes the usability to transpire. Organ preservation typically does not exceed 72 hours. Considering this, the supply of usable organs cannot just be placed upon a shelf until needed; blood types must be matched with recipients and the organ transplanted immediately. One exception to this is bone marrow; extracted marrow can be frozen and stored until transplant (Calvagna, 2012). Earlier in 2012, the US Supreme Court legalized the payment to donors for their bone marrow received through peripheral apheresis. This is the extraction of bone marrow through the blood, in lieu of the bone. However under strict regulation, applying to only those states in the Ninth Circuit (most western states). In concession with NOTA, the compensation is in the form of a voucher applied to scholarships, education, housing or a donation to charity (Park, 2012).

While much of my position is based primarily upon morality and a vested interest in organ donation, there are other ways of helping oneself and others that are less degrading and carry a much lower risk. While payment is always an incentive, the willingness of a donor is rewarded with an incentive money can't buy. The knowledge that you save another person, a parent, a child, a best friend, triumphs over a monitory payment in ways that can't be out done.


Additional Sources:

Calvagna, Mary. (2012). Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) for Cancer Treatment. Tufts Medical Center. Retrieved from


Park, Alice. (28 August 2012). Should people be allows to sell their organs? Time . Retrieved from

I would have to disagree with you Morgan. I feel that it should be legalized. It would benefit a lot of people. But I do not think that you should just legalize it with out careful watch over how it is done and what is harvested and how much money they are sold for. While you say that the preservation of these organs usually doesn’t last more than 72 hours, there is a vast amount of sickly people waiting for those organs. I don’t feel that there would be too many organs. People now are on waiting lists for a long time and usually end up dying because there aren’t any donors to transplant their organs to the sickly. I believe that the organ harvesting should be regulated based upon the demand of the certain organs needed.

I agree with you completely. Just because we can do something like harvest our organs doesn't mean we should. You have already stated the difficulty in preserving the organs, so then why even bother to take the organs away from someone if the timing is going to be wrong. The whole process seems like a very fast process to me. I also believe that the result of putting another organ into someones body that is not from a direct relative is even more risky. We have absolutely no idea if this organ will even agree with its new "home". Then the entire procedure was done for what? Absolutely nothing, it would be a failed attempt to save someone's life and it could cause two deaths in the end.