Eng 106 - Proposal Paper

Caleb Anderson

ENG-106

March 21st, 2018

Sandi Van Lieu

Organ Sale

        According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2018), sale is the transfer of ownership of and title to property from one person to another for a price. The definition clearly tells the audience that both parties benefit from a sale in some way or form. Organ sales would be a great example of a perfect sale in which there is a benefit to a buyer and a seller. Having the the ability to buy and sell organs would be beneficial because the amount of people dying while waiting for an organ donation would decrease, both parties would profit from the process, and it ensures that the organ needed will be received in time.

        The amount of people waiting for an organ would drastically decrease if organ sale was legalized in countries like the U.S. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states on a chart that in 1991 approximately 23,198 people were on a waiting list for an organ donation and there were approximately 6,953 organ donors that year (“Organ Donor,” 2018). The ratio of organ donors to organ receivers was 1:3.3 in that year. According to the same website, in 2015, the amount of people on the waiting list for an organ donation was increased to 119,362 people, while the donor amount was only increased to 15,947 people (“Organ Donor,” 2018). The ratio of organ donors to organ receivers was 1:7.5 in the year of 2015. The data clearly shows that the amount of people that need organs has increased by much more compared to the amount of people that are willing to donate organs. This issue results in higher amount of deaths due to the lack of human donors to save others. People would just be waiting for an organ donation instead of being back to their normal healthy lives. They would miss out on the opportunity of spending time with their families and friends. Since the wait time is very long, the expenses on the medical bills would be around the same amount as buying an organ. This cuts the wait time of an organ being received and the concern of not getting an organ in time substantially. According to the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS), on average 20 people die each day waiting for an organ transplant instead of continuing their adventures on this earth (2018). Since the organ sale would decrease the amount of people waiting and dying from not having the organs they need, both parties also benefit in that sale.

When it comes to organ sales, it is obvious that both parties of organ sale would benefit from the process. One party would receive the organ that is needed while the other party gets the payment for the certain organ that is being sold. Sally Satel, on the National Public Radio, states that the only difference between the organ donation and organ sale is mainly the money that is being or not being attained (2008). When you look at both parties in an organ donation perspective, it can be seen that only one party is truly benefiting. The party that receives the organ is the one that benefits much more than the other party because the other party doesn’t get the value for what the organ is worth. The party that donates just may get the positive feeling and or knowledge that they have helped someone else, while the party that receives the organ actually gets an actual physical value. Organ sale would benefit both parties fairly and the sale would ensure that an organ is being received in time.

When it comes to an organ transplant, it is necessary for a person that needs an organ the receive the organ that is needed in time. If the organ is not attained in time, the person could become very ill and in the worst case would lose his or her life. It is very difficult for a family to find out that they have lost someone due to the wait of an organ transplant. As the years go on, the waiting list keeps on increasing and the organ donors will never catch up to the people that are waiting for an organ. Donate Life Midwest tells its readers about this girl named Alexa Kersting that waited for a lung transplant and ended up losing her life due to not getting the organ donation in time (2014). Alexa waited and hoped for a lung transplant for two years and was not able to receive one in time. She was just 14 when her family has lost her. Alexa did not get to experience her high school years, college time, and then building a family like most people are able to today. Organ donation just shows in how much of a need people are in into changing the system to organ sale. If there was an option for organ sale, there could have been a much higher chance for Alexis to have her life extended, she could have had a chance of continuing making new memories with her loved ones on this earth. Organ sale would definitely decrease the wait time and will ensure people that their organ will be received in time.

When trying to come up with a system for organ distribution, there is no system that can be created in a perfect way that no one is exploited or cheated. Just as organ donation has its flaws, organ sale also has multiple flaws in it. There are many people that are poor out in the world and their health is poor due to the lack of money to provide for themselves. The poor are not able to afford the organs if needed compared to the people in the middle class or the upper class. It can be seen that the people that have money are way more likely to buy an organ compared to the poor. Even though the poor are being exploited in some cases, the amount of people dying due to a need of organ transplant would still decrease dramatically. There will still be people that would be willing to donate their organs to those that don’t have the money to pay for them. Also, charities and fundraisers can be arranged to help and support the poor people that are in need of an organ transplant. World Bank Group states on their website that in 2013, approximately 10.7 percent of the world’s population was living at or below the poverty line (2018). By introducing organ sale, the economy would be positively affected by this step. Boosting up the economy means that there is more money out there, new jobs are created and offered, and families are able to provide for themselves more. Since there is a large amount of people that are waiting for an organ currently, selling organs would make a great impact on the economy instantly. People in the third-world countries would get better opportunities of getting out of the poverty line and stabilize their families. Organ sale could also create an issue with the organs being auctioned. Some people’s organs could be sold for a much higher price than another person’s. This issue could be easily fixed by creating a set price on each individual organ that would be on sale. Setting prices on organs would avoid exploitation because only the rich people would once again be favored the most because they have the money to afford these organs. Even though both systems have flaws, organ sale would save more people than organ donation and it would boost earth’s economy in a positive way.