As survival rates continue to improve with experience and new therapeutic agents, transplantation will become a viable option for more patients. Currently the supply of organs is limiting expansion of transplantation programs, particularly for infants and children. There are many complex issues surrounding organ availability which involve ethical, social, and moral issues.
Unique complications arise when the donor being considered is a child.
The Issue of Incentives For several years there has been debate on whether specific incentives would increase the numbers of adult organs available for transplant. The National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 made it illegal for organs to be purchased or sold to prevent abusive and exploitative practices which contravene the ideal principles of organ allocation. Those in favour argue that financial incentives address only how the organs are obtained and that the decisions about how the organs are distributed would be unaffected. Those opposed to the concept of financial incentives argue that the principles of fair and just organ allocation would be at risk. Still others argue that the desire to donate is not driven by financial gain and that financial incentives would actually decrease donations because potential donor families would be offended by the suggestion that they might benefit from the death of their loved one.