The Pros And Cons Of Organ Transplants

The life of someone can be saved by the help of just one kind person willing to make a sacrifice of his or her own to save that one person. However, the question is whether or not there are enough people with these characters in the world, willing to help others in need just because it is just and the right thing to do. Normally the answer points to no because in reality, people are generally selfish and will not do something for others unless they are compensated for their actions. This is the exactly why people in need of an organ transplants suffer greatly, some of which actually end up dead because there are not enough people who are willing to simply donate their organs. Kidneys are an example of an organ that many citizens need in order

Since it is a matter of life or death for the individuals in need of a kidney, it is quite inelastic. There are not many alternate choices other than the dialysis treatment that does not provide as much of a benefit to the patient as a kidney transplant would. This is why legalizing a market for kidneys is the best option when morally and economically speaking. Whether or not it is viewed as being immoral to be gaining a profit at the expense of someone in need does not matter. In the end, the goal is to help someone survive from near death and by legalizing a market for kidneys, more lives will be saved every day. The economy also benefits more from a legal market for kidneys because of the inelastic demand for kidneys. Since people in need of kidneys will want the kidney more than the money in order to survive, they will be willing to pay whatever it takes for a kidney transplant. Now that donors can gain a profit for donating their kidney, there will be more suppliers and the shortage of donors will decrease to equilibrium. This will quickly save lives in the short run and in the long run, the risk for a surplus is not as bad as the risk for a shortage of donors by not legalizing a market for kidneys. The demand for kidneys is inelastic, so even though the prices may rise for kidney transplants, only a small amount of people will no longer demand it because of the lack of substitutes. The only substitute available would be the dialysis treatment, which is also costly and not as effective as a kidney transplant. Therefore, the biggest risk associated with legalizing a kidney market is the inability of the poor to pay for these transplants. This is a trade off that must be allowed because otherwise there will be more people in danger of losing their lives if markets for kidneys were not legalized due to this