The nation’s system for procuring and distributing vital organs is badly broken. Demand vastly outstrips supply. Today, there are over 92,000 people waiting for organs—mostly kidneys–and each day eighteen of them will die before they get one. The wait in many locations is over five years and by 2010, it is expected to double.

The waiting list, maintained by the United Network for Organ Sharing under a monopoly contract with the Department of Health and Human Services, cannot distribute organs any faster than they become available. Unfortunately, some key members of the transplant community insist that desperate patients simply wait their turn, even if the price of patience is death. More and more, however, concerned physicians, ethicists, legal scholars, and economists are urging dramatic reform, including legislative change to permit compensation to donors.

Although donor altruism is an inspiring virtue, generosity as public policy falls short. Panelists at this event will discuss incentives, including payment, as a viable remedy to enhance the supply of lifesaving organs.