Rationing Transplants: An Ethical Problem
Source: Council for Economic Education (EconEdLink) | Type: Lesson
On November 1, 1999, Walter Payton, former Chicago Bears running back, died waiting for a liver transplant. Payton's death re-opened the nation's attention to the issue of organ donation. The National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 (NOTA) made giving or receiving compensation for organ donation illegal in the United States. Currently in the United States there exists a large shortage of viable organs which are allowed to be used for transplant. In this lesson students will be asked to research the issue of organ donation, and to debate, in a class discussion, the different alternatives which are being proposed to meet the demand for organ transplants using economic analysis.
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