Benefits are few for kidney sellers.

• Position: Organ Transplants - Brief Article

Individuals who sell a kidney do not receive a long-term economic benefit from the sale and may have a worsening of their health, according to a Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, study. The investigation involved 305 individuals in southern India who had sold one of their kidneys an average of six years previously for approximately $1,000 apiece (about twice their annual family income). The study compared the sellers' current economic and health status before and after they sold a kidney. It found that the income of the sellers declined by one-third after selling a kidney, and 86% had a worsening of their health status.

Because nearly every country has a shortage of organs for transplantation, providing financial incentives to donate is often proposed or justified as a way to benefit recipients and donors alike. In the U.S., most organs for transplantation come from brain-dead individuals whose families have consented to donate. Providing financial incentives such as payment for funeral expenses has been proposed as a way to increase...