EASE THE MARKET FOR ORGAN DONORS: From the Rocky Mountain News

…A 1984 federal law prohibits organ donors from receiving any “valuable consideration” for their life-saving generosity. A live donor can be compensated for medical expenses (which are usually paid by the recipient’s health insurance), travel and lost wages, but nothing more. And if you choose to donate organs at death, your survivors get nothing.

The medical establishment has long considered it anathema to allow donors or their survivors to “profit” from their beneficence. The worry is that poor people will sell their organs out of financial desperation and thus in some cases compromise their health. But there are ways to minimize the risk that such a fully open market might pose.

For example, Washington could alleviate the shortage by considering pilot programs. One idea is federal income tax relief along the lines of laws operating in eight states, including Utah. Those states offer up to $10,000 in income-tax deductions to repay donors’ travel expenses and lost wages.

Another possibility: “futures” contracts, in which recipients would pay up front some of the funeral expenses of those who elect to donate organs at death.

And the medical establishment should drop its objections to organizations like MatchingDonors.com. This site lets organ recipients find willing live donors and make transplantation arrangements privately.

We’re certainly not comfortable endorsing a full-fledged market in organs, a regime that would allow donors to auction kidneys on eBay. But the current system is not compassionate; it amounts to a death sentence for thousands of Americans each year.

more (via Virginia Postrel)