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Essay / Organ donation: the right to organ donation - 1538
Those who are willing to offer the most money for their health will not be placed on a waiting list. They could act for a healthier life, regardless of the duration of their suffering. However, raising prices to benefit the provider results in medical and economic suffering for less wealthy patients. Whether near death or in the early stages of treatment, every patient has the right to medical care. Currently, a kidney transplant costs approximately $262,900, including hospitalization and doctors' fees (Transplant Living). A London news source reported: "...a waiter willing to sell his kidney...for around $194,000...wanted the money to buy a house for his family in Pakistan and start a business" (UPI Newstrack 4). By purchasing a kidney from an illicit company, a patient would spend a total of $456,900 in procedure fees and the price of the organ. Although the patient eliminates the time spent waiting for a transplant, the expenses become extremely inflated. Those who sell organs turn the trade into a means of livelihood; relying on the failing health of others to benefit. The ethical benefit focuses on improving the health of the injured, not their financial situation. Another news source, The Journal of Medical Ethics, publishes articles regarding the organ transplant business. Professor John Harris, a bioethicist, advocates that "prices should be high enough to attract people into the market, but dialysis and other alternative care are not cheap" (8). Harris understands that individuals neglect their corporate interest when they sell organs solely for altruistic purposes. However, when the concern for profit trumps caring for sick patients, the practice becomes unethical. The sick deserve to fight for a healthier life; however, a