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Rare 9-way Kidney Swap a Success
Okian Warrior sends news that a complex set of 18 surgeries has been successfully completed at California Pacific Medical Center and the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center that resulted in nine donors sending kidneys to recipients in need. This web of kidney swaps arose because many of the people with failing kidneys had donors willing to help them, but weren't a biological match. Rather than give up on the transplant altogether, doctors were able to arrange the willing donors in a way such that each patient who needed a kidney was able to get one. "Software matching programs have been driving the trend. The programs use blood type and other patient data from medical tests to connect people who are compatible."
Exactly my thoughts, except that people who really have problems with this solution for religious or whatever reason should have a way to opt-out. Simply changing the default from opt-out to opt-in would already make a big difference, maybe enough, maybe not.
If that wouldn't be enough, the deal could be that people who choose to opt-out would be placed behind people who choose opt-in in on the waiting list in case they need an organ themselves. That would be fair and still leave people the choice to opt-out if they are really uncomfortable with the whole organ donation idea (personally, I'm not - dead is dead).
"Money is a sign of poverty." - Iain Banks
Other than it is illegal to sell an organ in any situation.
You are wrong. In 2011, the average procurement cost for a kidney was $67,200. For a heart, you would pay $80,400. None of that goes to the donor, or the donor's family, except for reimbursement of direct medical expenses. It is a very profitable racket.