Is It Ethical For Patients With Kidney Disease To Purchase Kidneys From The World's Poor?

Main Category: Urology / Nephrology
Also Included In: Transplants / Organ Donations
Article Date: 24 Oct 2006 - 15:00 PDT

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One controversial, and almost universally illegal, approach to tackling the shortage of kidneys for transplantation is for a patient with kidney disease to buy a kidney from a living donor who is usually in a developing country. But is the buying and selling of organs ethical? A provocative debate in PLoS Medicine considers both sides of the issue.

Tarif Bakdash, a pediatric neurologist and Assistant Professor of Bioethicis at Damascus University, Syria, argues that "poor people should have the right to exercise their autonomy by selling their organs."

The argument that we should protect the poor from being exploited by banning them from selling their organs is a myth, says Dr Bakdash. "The poor are always exploited from the day they are born," he says, "and in all avenues of life. The only thing of value left for some of them is their bodies." Dr Bakdash believes that the sale of organs should be legalized and regulated.

But Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Professor of Medical Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, and Director of Organs Watch, argues that "dividing the world into organ buyers and sellers is a medical, social, and moral tragedy."

Research done by Professor Schepher Hughes and colleagues found that among hundreds of kidney sellers in Moldova, Romania, Turkey, the Philippines, and Brazil, many suffer post-operatively from chronic pain, social isolation, stigma, and severe psychological problems. "While many individuals have benefited from the ability to get the organs they need through illegal circuits," she says, "the violence associated with kidney selling gives reason to pause."

Citation: Bakdash T, Scheper-Hughes N (2006) Is it ethical for patients with renal disease to purchase kidneys from the world's poor? PLoS Med 3(10): e349.

PLEASE ADD THE LINK TO THE PUBLISHED ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030349

CONTACTS:

Tarif Bakdash
University of Toronto
The Joint Center for Bioethics
88 College Street
Toronto, ON M5G 1L4 Canada

Nancy Scheper-Hughes
University of California, Berkeley
Medical Anthropology and Director of Organs
Berkeley, CA United States of America

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Social medicine in the 21st century

Contact: Andrew Hyde
Public Library of Science

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