The Brave New World of Organ Transplantation: Issues and Challenges from a Consumer Affairs Perspective

Abstract

Policy makers are trying to narrow the widening gap between the demand and the supply of transplantable organs. They are doing so largely without contributions from consumer affairs specialists. This article establishes the need for involvement of consumer affairs scholars and suggests directions for further empirical and critical inquiry. Substantive research must be grounded more firmly in established theoretical constructs and behavioral theories.

Babies for Sale: Market Ethics and the New Reproductive Technologies

“…Similarly, Simmons, Klein, and Simmons argue that such boards "would reject the unemployed, the worker whose job is less important, the person who has few family ties or obligations, and the man with a history of deviance of any sort" (1977, 11). Further, they argue that commercializing organ transplant markets may result in turning the poor into organ pools for the rich, a possibility also noted by Frank (1985), Kinsley (1989), Macdonald and Valentin (1988), and Titmuss (1970). tilization clinics, surrogate mother clinics, and embryo transfer clinics, as well as private medical practices specializing in sex selection, fetal reduction, and surrogate fetal carriers (Andrews, 1984;Budiansky 1988;Corea 1985, Frank andVogel1988), the majority of which are unregulated.…”

“…An overriding ethical concern in human organ markets, as in human blood markets, is whether or not to sanction commercial exchanges (Macdonald and Valentin 1988;Simmons, Klein, and Simmons 1977;Thukral and Cummins 1987). Currently, there are over 70 times as many persons waiting for heart, liver, and kidney transplants as there are organs available (Macdonald and Valentin 1988;Thukral and Cummins 1987).…”

“…An overriding ethical concern in human organ markets, as in human blood markets, is whether or not to sanction commercial exchanges (Macdonald and Valentin 1988;Simmons, Klein, and Simmons 1977;Thukral and Cummins 1987). Currently, there are over 70 times as many persons waiting for heart, liver, and kidney transplants as there are organs available (Macdonald and Valentin 1988;Thukral and Cummins 1987). However, commercialization of these markets has been legally prohibited in the United States, largely due to cultural norms which circumscribe sacred-for-profane exchanges (Macdonald and Valentin 1988;Thukral and Cummins 1987).…”

“…Currently, there are over 70 times as many persons waiting for heart, liver, and kidney transplants as there are organs available (Macdonald and Valentin 1988;Thukral and Cummins 1987). However, commercialization of these markets has been legally prohibited in the United States, largely due to cultural norms which circumscribe sacred-for-profane exchanges (Macdonald and Valentin 1988;Thukral and Cummins 1987).…”

“…The enormous disproportion between supply and demand in the adoption marketplace, highly reminiscent of that found for organ transplantation (Macdonald and Valentin 1988;Thukral and Cummins 1987), has led to increased pressure for commercialization and entrepreneurism (Zelizer 1985). In the process, both babies and prospective adoptive parents are often transformed into profane products.…”