Should rich and poor alike be free to sell their kidneys?
Posted by Marcy Darnovsky February 6, 2008
Biopolitical Times
A massive kidney trafficking racket exposed last week in India continues to unravel. Indian publications (1, 2) are tracking its twists and turns, but the brief flurry of U.S. coverage (1, 2) has largely subsided.
The story so far: Dozens of doctors, nurses, and medical professionals appear to have participated in the illegal procurement of some 500 kidneys, mostly from poor workers, that were sold to foreign clients. Some of the kidney “donors” were offered sums of about $1000. Others were kidnapped and knocked out, learning only when they regained consciousness that their organs had been harvested. They were then threatened with their lives if they told anyone about the racket.
The mastermind of the operation is still being sought by Indian police and Interpol. Several similar scandals in recent years have raised the question of whether hospitals and police have been involved.
For most, kidney trafficking exploits the desperation of both buyers and sellers, and its horrors call for stricter enforcement of laws against it. But some libertarians, including market enthusiast Ron Bailey at Reason Online and the Cato Institute's Arthur Matas, counsel instead that the sale of kidneys be legalized.
The only country now on that path is Iran. There, the state sets an initial price and runs kidney referral agencies, but haggling between buyers – who have money – and sellers – who urgently need it – is common. A 2007 documentary called Iranian Kidney Bargain Sale gives a blow-by-blow account, and it’s not pretty.
The story so far: Dozens of doctors, nurses, and medical professionals appear to have participated in the illegal procurement of some 500 kidneys, mostly from poor workers, that were sold to foreign clients. Some of the kidney “donors” were offered sums of about $1000. Others were kidnapped and knocked out, learning only when they regained consciousness that their organs had been harvested. They were then threatened with their lives if they told anyone about the racket.
The mastermind of the operation is still being sought by Indian police and Interpol. Several similar scandals in recent years have raised the question of whether hospitals and police have been involved.
For most, kidney trafficking exploits the desperation of both buyers and sellers, and its horrors call for stricter enforcement of laws against it. But some libertarians, including market enthusiast Ron Bailey at Reason Online and the Cato Institute's Arthur Matas, counsel instead that the sale of kidneys be legalized.
The only country now on that path is Iran. There, the state sets an initial price and runs kidney referral agencies, but haggling between buyers – who have money – and sellers – who urgently need it – is common. A 2007 documentary called Iranian Kidney Bargain Sale gives a blow-by-blow account, and it’s not pretty.