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It's time to renew my drivers licence. I got a form in the mail to fill out and send back with a check so it will all be taken care of for another few years. There is a little box to check if I want to donate my organs. If I put a mark on it they will print a pink dot on my licence and register me as a donor. They used to just give you a little sticker to apply yourself.

I will have them put the dot on my licence. I would like for them to print on the card, "Organs donated under protest." See I strongly believe that the donor's family should get paid, if they wish, when a loved one's body parts are passed on to another.

Yes, I can hear you screaming, "That would lead to the SELLING of organs!" Guess what? Body parts are being sold every day. If you don't believe this trot on down to the local hospital and tell them you want a new heart but you don't want to pay any money for the operation cause you don't want your insurance premium to go up!

When organs are transplanted the doctor is usually paid to preform the operation. The nursers are compensated for their time. The hospital gets remuneration for providing the OR, the ICU, the lights, the bed, the bad food and the reams of paper used to keep track of every pill, band-aid and Kleenex the patient is given. The hospital staff, from the CEO at the top, down to the person who takes out the garbage, all get big salaries or small wages. The insurance company makes money on the deal, or there would not be a "deal". They write the policies to their own advantage. The local, state and federal governments always get a piece of the action whenever large amounts of money change hands. And we are talking about very large amounts of money.

Perhaps the greatest beneficiaries are the pharmaceutical companies. When ever a major organ is transplanted the drug suppliers are guaranteed a "preferred" customer for life. Transplant recipients are generally required to take expensive anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their lives. And because those drugs weaken the immune system they also often need other drugs to fight infection and disease. So the "sale" of organs is a big business.

Fortunately there is a system in place to insure that the allocating of donated organs is fair. Hopefully the system works. Sometimes it is abused.

Lets look at what often goes on now. On one end we have a young person who has taken care of their body with exercise and a good diet, no abuse of drugs or alcohol. They have a good healthily life style and a body that is physically fit. Then they suddenly die in an accident maybe caused by a drunk driver. On the other end there may be a wealthy businessman, athlete, actor or rock star that has abused substances for their entire adult life. Their liver's been pickled, their lungs resemble those of a coal miner and their heart needs servicing by Roto-Rooter. They get to go on living in their mansions with their illegal immigrant domestic staff. The donor's family gets a thank you note. Is that right?

Those recipients who are able to pay big money for their used parts should be made to pay. The money could go into a fund out of which donor's families are paid. There would be no direct link between donor and recipient. This might add motivation to abuse the system but their is plenty of motivation already. Either the system works or it doesn't. Paying for the organ will not change the fact that the system for preventing abuse needs to be monitored closely and set up in a way that insures fairness to all. There is a bigger issue here, that of who gets good medical care in the first place. Everyone or just those can pay the exorbitant cost for the "finest health care in the world."

As it is now everyone gets paid except those who may need it the most. A family that has lost a bread winner and is now deeply in debt because of medical and funeral expenses.

OWL

Oct. 24, 2007