Harvesting Organs From the Poor. The American Way.

More sophisticated than whacking someone over the head and stealing their organs.

The papers and media are full of talk about former Vice President Dick Cheney’s recent heart transplant. There was much discussion about whether at age 71 he was too old, or whether he took advantage of special privileges to jump the line of thousands of others hoping to receive this potentially life-extending procedure. I am not prepared to comment on most of that: whether you call it an organ-allocation process or rationing, some will always consider themselves lucky, and others losers. I wish Mr. Cheney well.

Organ transplantation is often considered one of the triumphs of modern medicine. It has also made a lot of money for hospitals and doctors who do the procedures. Think of all the ads and press coverage we hear as hospitals seek to enhance their prestige and to attract other customers. The year I worked in Congress, Washington was attacked by lobbyists seeking to gain advantage in the national system of allocating donated organs. As much as these highly paid armies spoke of fairness, better outcomes, more equitable distribution, and the like; all of us staffers knew they were just fighting over the money. It was a cynical business. Continue reading “Harvesting Organs From the Poor. The American Way.”