Organ harvesting in a hospital near you

• Doctors worried about 'cash-for-organs'

  • Hospitals across Australia could be paid to harvest the organs of dead patients under a $17 million federal program.

    An "activity-based funding" scheme has been set up under the Organ and Tissue Authority in which hospitals could receive up to $11,400 for each patient who becomes a donor.

    ... doctors are worried it could be seen as an incentive for hospitals to pressure patients into giving away their organs, the News Ltd says.

  • "This payment applies to potential donors that would not normally be transferred to the ICU as part of their treatment or end-of-life care."

Greg's Comment:

There are two ethical issues here. First, we know that hospitals will cook the books to get more funding and the opportunity for manipulating this concept will prove too much for some. The other issue is about the development of a class system for access to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). A case of "give us your organs or you can't come in"?