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Andres Davila
Ann Weigl
ENC1101.OT1
4 October 2025
The Organ Sale Dilemma
It’s no secret that viable organs are incredibly difficult to find, and this is
unfortunately a big issue in the medical world where these organs can mean the
difference between life or death for a patient. The current options for organ
transplants aren’t viable for everyone; for example, dialysis is harsh, expensive,
and, worst of all, only temporary, and kidney transplants are a near cure, but the
wait time for an organ donor often causes people to die (Mackay). For a long
time, there has been a debate on whether people should be able to sell their own
organs. This is strictly prohibited in most parts of the world, but there are a large
number of people who support this idea. While this might seem like a good idea
since people would be receiving large sums of money for potentially saving a life,
this also comes with far more downsides. The legalization of organ sales would
be a risky endeavor that could lead to many medical risks that would affect both
organ receivers and donors as well as the exploitation of vulnerable people as
well as potentially turning the human body into a business that only benefits the
affluent.
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First of all, the medical risks that come with selling organs are too much to
justify the idea. Organs are obviously very important to the body and any small
misstep could potentially prove fatal for either the donor or the patient. This
problem becomes greater because many of these operations will be performed in
impoverished third-world countries where many hospitals are in poor condition
and medical knowledge isn’t as advanced as in more developed countries. While
many organ transplants are successful, the long term side effects can often make
life miserable. Often, donors sometimes just aren’t what they used to be prior to
donating an organ; for example, many report difficulties physically, mentally, or
even socially. “Some donors have been reported to have experienced
deterioration in their general health following donation, in some cases to the point
of being unable to continue their former work, thereby worsening their financial
circumstances.” (Adair and Wigmore). This type of suffering isn’t worth the
compensation that these people will get, which depending on the place can be
very little.
Secondly, organ sales create the perfect setting for the exploitation of the
vulnerable. This occurs when the organs come from poor, underdeveloped
countries. Oftentimes, organs from these places become the main source of the
organs. Sometimes, these people are forced to sell their organs due to family or
financial reasons, but due to the sheer number of people donating organs, the
value of them drops which results in people not receiving the money they hoped
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for. There are even cities that are dedicated just for organ sales; for example, in
the Philippines, there is a city nicknamed Kidneyville where a lot of people have
sold kidneys but these often come at a cost. “Noel detailed how transplantation
tourism is expanding across the globe, taking advantage of the most destitute of
people, such as those affected by the recent tsunami. Francis Delmonico, an
HMS clinical professor of surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, described
how in one slum in the Philippines more than 3,000 people sold one of their
kidneys. The plight of this so-called “Kidneyville” and other hard-hit areas will be
on the agenda at a summit meeting, organized by Delmonico, to be held in May
in Istanbul,” (Landau). There have even been cases of people getting their
organs taken without their organs taken without their consent, and also of people
just straight up stealing organs and failing to provide just compensation for the
donors. This just straight up isn’t worth it for donors and creates a dangerous
environment for donors since they risk theft and exploitation.
In conclusion, while organ sales might seem like a good idea on the
surface, once you start looking at the idea at a deeper level, it exposes the
issues that arise from the sale of organs. There are just way too many risks for
both the donors and recipients that make the sale of organs not worth it. Even if
it’s heavily regulated, the opportunity for exploitation of the less fortunate is still
present and unfortunately, people will take advantage of it.
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Works Cited
Adair, Anya, and Stephen J Wigmore. “Paid Organ Donation: The Case Against.”
Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, vol. 93, no. 3, Apr.
2021, pp. 191–192, [Link]/pmc/articles/PMC3291132/,
[Link]
Landau, Misia. “The Organ Trade: Right or Wrong?” [Link], 7 Mar.
2008, [Link]/news/organ-trade-right-or-wrong.
MaKay, Joanna. “Organ Sales Will Save Lives.” The Norton Field To Writing, by
Richard Bullock, et al. W.W. Norton, 2019.