"One man's trash is another man's treasure": exploring economic and moral subtexts of the "organ shortage" problem in public views on organ donation.
The debate over financial incentives and market models for organ procurement represents a key trend in recent bioethics. In this paper, we wish to reassess one of its central premises-the idea of organ shortage. While the problem is often presented as an objective statistical fact that can be taken for granted, we will take a closer look at the underlying framework expressed in the common rhetoric of "scarcity", "shortage" or "unfulfilled demand". On the basis of theoretical considerations as well as a socioempirical examination of public attitudes, we will argue that this rhetoric has an economic subtext that imbues the debate with normative premises that have far-reaching social and ethical consequences and need to be made explicit and discussed.
Schicktanz
S
S
Department of Medical Ethics and for the History of Medicine, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany. silke.schicktanz@medizin.uni-goettingen.de
Schweda
M
M
D000533:Altruism; D003132:Commerce / Q000941:ethics; D017144:Focus Groups; D015276:Health Care Rationing / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics* / Q000592:standards; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D012051:Reimbursement Mechanisms / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics / Q000592:standards; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000941:ethics / Q000523:psychology / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics* / Q000592:standards