Organ Trafficking and Body Snatching

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Eighteen; the amount of people who die every day, desperately waiting for their new future. Transplanting an organ from one human to another has become a modern, medical miracle. Yet, with a shortage of organs and a surplus of poverty-stricken, the world has resulted to black market trading. Where it once took years of waiting on an organ wait list to receive that needed body part, it can now take just a few weeks or months to purchase a new life. The need for organs, especially in the United States, has procured an increase in organ trafficking and black market dealings, especially in impoverished countries. With over 120,000 people on the United States organ wait list, and 18 of them dying each day, it would only make sense to offer another alternative to this rising epidemic ("The Need Is Real: Data."). With that in mind, it is clear that financial incentives, whether they may be tax credits or direct payments, should be used to increase organ donations. Organ trafficking and body snatching have dated back to the late 1700s. During this time, surgeons first began to dissect cadavers to learn about the human anatomy and help in medical teachings. These surgeons recruited “resurrectionists” or “ghouls,” usually dodgy, poor, men who would scavenge New York cemeteries looking for bodies to sell to doctors and medical schools. Although these human remains played an important part in the advancement of medicine, they were not used for organ transplants. The first reported cases of organ and skin transplants run back to the third-century. With little knowledge on these procedures, doctors were dealing with patient rejections and ultimately, their deaths (Cheney). From the 1900s until the 1950s, a free market of human blood and tissue... ... middle of paper ... ...an donors would open a door to various opportunities that would only benefit all who are involved. To give away a part of oneself is a huge decision, but with compensation, both parties would benefit. Although it could be seen as a commercial business, having some incentive for organ donors would increase available organs, lower psychological and emotional pressures felt by relatives of the needy patients, eliminate the black market trade of organs, and end the exploitation of people in poor nations who rely on illegal donations for their only source income. Black market trade is an extreme problem in needy countries, and the fact that a solution to the problem already exists, and is not being implemented, is outrageous. The positives of incentives entirely outweigh the negatives. Where money is involved, people will follow, so why not save a life in the process?

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