Consideration for a donation--economic aspects.
This article considers the economic aspects involved in introducing and putting into operation the model proposed by the author of this article. It rests on the premise that it would be worthwhile to provide money or other economic consideration in order to encourage and hence increase donations of human organs for transplant, whether from living or deceased donors. The model is based on an official central body, which would coordinate receipt of organs from donors, payment to the donors and distribution of the organs to patients, who would not pay anything for receiving the organ and would not even have any contact with the seller-donor. The purpose of this article is to try to examine and prove, that increasing the supply of human organs, whether from living or deceased persons by providing money or some other economic incentive would not only save the lives of persons waiting for organs, but also bring about substantial financial saving to the social community in general and the health system in particular, and thereby make available additional resources for saving lives, shorten the queues and benefit the weaker levels of society. We will show this through examining the various financial costs. This covers both the expense of treating various patients who need transplants on the one hand and the estimated costs to the community, including the patients and their families, on the other hand--as well as the loss of work force to the economy, payment of pensions, care from welfare organizations, etc.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Law, Jerusalem.
Samuel
S
Jellinek
D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D016377:Organ Transplantation / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000191:economics* / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence