Part of what is so inspiring about donating an organ is the selfless nature of the act. The giver doesn't expect anything in return.
But with more than 100,000 people desperately waiting for a life-saving gift, some think that donors need more incentives to put their names on the list, a new poll conducted by NPR and Thomson Reuters reveals.
Although federal law forbids payment for organs, 60 percent of the 3,000 people polled said they would support compensation in the form of credits for health care needs.
Forty-one percent said they are in favor of straight-up cash and 46 percent said they would approve of paying donors in tax credits.
"I think the market has become such an important guiding principle in so many areas of lives, including health care, that it becomes harder to say why shouldn't a person who donates organs make some money too," Dr. Stuart Youngner, a bioethicist at Case Western Reserve University's med school, told NPR’s Shots. "Altruism is very, very important, but in this case the lives of people are very, very important."
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