The Cato Institute has produced an outstanding policy analysis of the ethical issues surrounding live kidney donation and the use of incentives. Written by Arthur J. Matas, MD, it makes a compelling case for ethically appropriate ways to compensate kidney donors in order to overcome the dire shortage. He argues that “allowing the sale of kidneys from living donors would greatly increase the supply of kidneys and thereby save lives and minimize the number of patients suffering on dialysis.”
Dr. Matas is a professor of surgery and director of the kidney transplant program at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Matas has been a practicing transplant surgeon for more than 25 years and is the immediate past prresident of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.
You can read the full white paper here.