Composition II Draft 1

8/12/2019 Composition II Draft 1

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Mateo Cuevas

Composition II Draft 1

There is a drastic shortage in the number of organs we have in the U.S. through the numbers

gathered by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, (OPTN) there are currently

112,220 candidates on the waiting list as of April 15, 2014; while the number of donors, starting

this year January 2014 up to April 11, 2014, the number of donors has only been 1,209. (OPTN:

Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network). We cannot meet the demand of donors on

this list because we just do not have enough suppliers, and most on this list will not survive if

they do not receive a transplant very soon. The U.S. has a problem trying to accommodate all the

people who are in need of organ donations, and the people who are able to help are not doing all

they can in order to solve this problem.

Thesis: Therefore I propose to use incentives to get people to donate. These incentives will not

be straight cash to those who donate but will consist of others rewards that will encourage people

to donate. These incentives will differ depending on the person and the type of donation that is

made. There will be very different reimbursements for those who are living donors (LD)

compared to deceased donors (DD). The types of incentives I propose can be: a tax break,

covered funeral costs (DD), covered medical bills, medical leave from work, and priority on the

waiting list. These incentives will be taken care of an external third party, and will also receive

government help in order to assist in the compensation.

1. The some of the root causes of my problem are the fact that there is such a large numberof people that need donations but there are not enough donors. People are not becoming

organ donors. My solution will aim at those people who are not becoming donors by


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giving them a reason to donate. If there is an incentive in place organ donation might

look more appealing to many people and they will sign up.

2. My policy does satisfactorily affect everyone on the organ waiting list. This is because,particularly with deceased donors with one, many donations can be performed. Also

because the donation will be more appealing to people in general there will also be an

increase in the number of live organ donations which will help with the number one

needed organ which is kidneys (What You Need To Know About Organ Donations).

3. The policys costs do not exceed the benefits that will be earned through this policybecause this policy will not give out compensations that are too ridiculous to be carried

out. For example no one will be paid money directly and there will not be any type of

bidding if an organ is direly needed from say a family. For example like this court case

involving a child who needed a lung transplant the judge, Micheal Baylson made a ruling

after hearing the arguments from the childs parents decided to allow this 10-year old

child to go on the adult transplant list for a lung even though the minimum age is 12-

years old (FoxNews). Incidents like this will not take place with this kind of system.

There will not be arguments to get an organ directly from someone because they feel that

the patient really needs it. This is because these compensations will be handled by a third

party who is not going to be involved with the donor family, so there will be no influence

from them. People who are trying to get ahead in this system will not be able to directly

talk to the possible donors because of the third party affiliation that will handle the

donations. And if there are those families who do make this sort of attempt, trying to buy

an organ directly from a donor, they will be in legal trouble because bidding and directly


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buying an organ from someone is illegal, and according to the 1994 National Organ

Transplant Act, a felony that is punishable by a $50,000 fine (Satel).

4. My argument is feasible because there will be no outrageous payouts to any person.There will be limits set on the specific donation that is made. For example there will be

different incentives for those who will be live organ donors, compared to those who will

be deceased organ donors. The support for this comes from Sally Satel who suggest this

type of solution implementation about giving some type of compensation. Also an article

for example in the American Journal of Transplantation stated, Benefits or incentives for

family members who consent to donation are among the more controversial (and as yet

untested) strategies for increasing organ supply (Bryce). These ideas are being talked

about and very heavily considered. This article also goes on to talk and discuss much

more about this topic and how these incentives will have an impact.

5. Yes this policy has had some success. For example, The national Organ Donor Leave Actof 1999 allowed for additional time off of work for federal employees and some states

even paid medical bills as well as tax deductions in order to promote for living donors

(Boulware). This was just one scenario and the beginning for these types of policies.

(ADD ALSo the addition to the laws that were changed in several states to add more

incentieves and help for those who choose to donate.)

6. One of the main arguments that will make people oppose this policy is the fact that sincethere are incentives there will be desperate people who are in not good situations that will

want to donate just so they can get some sort of benefit from it. But this will not happen

because as Satel stated, By providing in-kind rewardssuch as a down payment on a

house, a contribution to a retirement fund, or lifetime health insurancethe program


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would not be attractive to desperate people who might otherwise rush to donate on the

promise of a large sum of instant cash.Also those people will not want to go through the

tedious process that already exists and might even become a little more tedious should

this type of policy be allowed to take place.

For example a donation is something that is given for free. However once something like a

reward introduced the question arises is it still just a donation? According to J. Harvey he,

think[s] the main objection to such arrangements as the above will be that even if the amount of

money isn't huge, it is nonetheless an 'inducement' if not an outright 'financial pressure'

(Harvey). Although this is a very valid argument

http://jme.bmj.com/content/16/3/117.full.pdf
http://jme.bmj.com/content/16/3/117.full.pdfhttp://jme.bmj.com/content/16/3/117.full.pdfhttp://jme.bmj.com/content/16/3/117.full.pdf


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Works Cited

"Organ Transplants: What You Need to Know." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/organ-transplants-what-you-need-know

"Dying Girl Intubated as She Awaits Lung Transplant."Fox News. FOX News Network, 10 June

2013. Web. 12 May 2014.http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/10/parents-file-

lawsuit-in-girl-lung-transplant-case/.

Bryce C, Siminoff L, Ubel P, Nathan H, Caplan A, Arnold R. Do Incentives Matter? Providing

Benefits to Families of Organ Donors.American Journal Of Transplantation[serial

online]. December 2005;5(12):2999-3008. Available from: Academic Search Complete,

Ipswich, MA. Accessed May 12, 2014.

This source is credible because it was published in a credible journal along with

contributing authors who are experts in their field. Also I believe it is relevant to what I

was discussing for my solution because it talks about the types of incentives that there

may be for an organ donation. It also briefly mentions why maybe it is not a good idea

which is the other side that I should also be focusing on.
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/organ-transplants-what-you-need-knowhttp://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/10/parents-file-%09lawsuit-in-girl-lung-transplant-case/http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/10/parents-file-%09lawsuit-in-girl-lung-transplant-case/http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/10/parents-file-%09lawsuit-in-girl-lung-transplant-case/http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/10/parents-file-%09lawsuit-in-girl-lung-transplant-case/http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/10/parents-file-%09lawsuit-in-girl-lung-transplant-case/http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/10/parents-file-%09lawsuit-in-girl-lung-transplant-case/http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/10/parents-file-%09lawsuit-in-girl-lung-transplant-case/http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/organ-transplants-what-you-need-know


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Boulware L, Troll M, Wang N, Powe N. Public Attitudes Toward Incentives for Organ

Donation: A National Study of Different Racial/Ethnic and Income Groups.American

Journal Of Transplantation[serial online]. November 2006;6(11):2774-2785. Available

from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed May 12, 2014.

Satel, Sally. "American Enterprise Institute."How to Fix the Organ Transplant Shortage. N.p.,

n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.http://www.aei.org/article/society-and-culture/how-to-fix-the-

organ-transplant-shortage/.

Sally Satels article was very interesting to me she started off with a story to get readers

to care more about the subject and I think it works. She later foes on to explain her

reasons for why this is an issue, that related closely to issues I discussed in my

composition 1 so I thought it would be a good fit. She also looks at both the good and bad

about this type of system and how there will always be two sides to it.

Uniting People and Information to Help save Lives." OPTN: Organ Procurement and

Transplantation Network. http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/. Web. 13 Apr. 2014

Reflective:

I tried to focus on each of the questions individually looking and thinking specifically on

that part of the argument. I think that I will be able to tie them all together when it comes to

composing an actual paper. The one that I think seems the most promising is the comparison act.
http://www.aei.org/article/society-and-culture/how-to-fix-the-%09organ-transplant-shortage/http://www.aei.org/article/society-and-culture/how-to-fix-the-%09organ-transplant-shortage/http://www.aei.org/article/society-and-culture/how-to-fix-the-%09organ-transplant-shortage/http://www.aei.org/article/society-and-culture/how-to-fix-the-%09organ-transplant-shortage/http://www.aei.org/article/society-and-culture/how-to-fix-the-%09organ-transplant-shortage/http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/http://www.aei.org/article/society-and-culture/how-to-fix-the-%09organ-transplant-shortage/http://www.aei.org/article/society-and-culture/how-to-fix-the-%09organ-transplant-shortage/


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This is because there is opposition to my idea but it has also been proven to get results meaning

that there are only a few things actually stopping it. The policy is similar to others that were

already placed or attempted in other places in a similar fashion and it worked. I will focus on

finding more examples that relate more closely to my topic and argue that those examples have

taken place so my solution should also be considered because it is very similar to others. I also

hope to find a lot of numbers that will support my claim as well as numbers that seem feasible in

order for my solution to work. One more thing I hope to find is somewhere, where this type of

policy is currently being supported and advocated for.

Composition II Draft 1

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