Robert Goulet dies waiting for an organ transplant

Conservative Book Club / Human Events

Robert Goulet dies waiting for an organ transplant - needlessly
By tankertodd Posted in Life Issues — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
I don't know the details of Robert Goulet's condition but when I read the headline that he died waiting for a lung transplant I assume the worst - his death could have been prevented if a donor lung was available. More...

Given that assumption I think it's worthwhile to remind folks how ridiculous our organ transplant system is in this country. It's in desperate need for reform. Donors are not allowed to be paid, which flies in the face of basic free markets. Heck, efforts to create a quid pro quo network of organ donors are frowned upon by the medical establishment. (These networks work like this: people sign up and indicate that they will allow their organs to be donated to anyone in the network. Conversely, if they need an organ, they can go to the network instead of the government donor list.)

Remember that this is the medical establishment that brought you our insanely expensive system. The same system that can't seem to manage the most basic of system reforms wants to keep you from getting organs in a better way.

The irony is that when markets are not free, they find a way to become free. Hence the burgeoning trade in transplants in China, where doctors, shall we say, have fewer constraints. If Robert Goulet had the option to get a Chinese lung and turned it down to wait his turn on the list, then kudos to him for doing the right(?) thing.