by David J. Rothman

About the author: David J. Rothman is a professor of social medicine at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and the author of several books, including Medicine and Western Civilization.

[Since the mid-1980s,] transplanting human organs has become a standard and remarkably successful medical procedure, giving new life to thousands of people with failing hearts, kidneys, livers, and lungs. But very few countries have sufficient organs to meet patients’ needs. In the United States, for example, some 50,000 people are on the waiting list for a transplant; fifteen percent of patients who need a new heart will die before one becomes available. The shortages are even more acute throughout the Middle East and Asia.

Desperation and Greed

This lack of available organs arouses desperation and rewards greed. Would-be...