Sque, Magi, et al. "Why relatives do not donate organs for transplants: ‘sacrifice’ or ‘gift of life’?." Journal of Advanced Nursing 61.2 (2008): 134-144.Print.

When a family faces the death of a loved one under circumstances that would allow for organ donation, a choice has to be made. The authors researched why it is that families choose not to donate by talking to the families that made this decision. They found that the participants main reason for not donating organs was best describes as ”protecting the dead body”. At the time they were approached about donation the participants still viewed their deceased family members body as a person. Thinking of them being cut up was unimaginable. One thing that surprised the authors was the fact that most of these families had pro-donation beliefs, but failed to act on those feelings. Some participants reported feeling regrets about their decision. I think that this article will help me answer the questions I have about why families would choose not to donate. I believe that, given the authors surprise findings of most families having pro-donation beliefs, this could help me explore if financial compensation would have helped them to overcome the feelings which prevented them from donating.

“Paying for Organs: Who Benefits?”Hospital and Health Networks 81.7 (2007):150. Print.

This was a small box article that very briefly gave some statistics. The first was that only one in four people have informed family members that they would want to donate. The next statistic was how many people are waiting for a kidney donation: 95,000 people. The article then mentions how people have begun to throw around different ideas as to how we can increase donation, including offering financial compensation. The public seems to be split: 49 percent in favor and 51 percent against. Then the article provided three pie graphs on the issue of “Providing financial compensation will...” make it easier for people, regardless of income, to get a needed transplant--46 percent agreed; make it easier only for wealthy people to get a transplant—67 percent agreed; encourage poor people to donate organs as a means of making money-- 71 percent agreed. This article wasn't exactly what I was looking for and I am unsure if I will use it but the statistics could be helpful in forming a strong argument regarding how people view the ethical problems that arise from offering financial compensation.

Brams, Marvin "Transplantable Human Organs: Should Their Sale Be Authorized by State Statutes?." American Journal of Law & Medicine 3.2 (1977): 183. Print.

Brams has some very strong points about changing the way organ donations are made by implementing a combined altruistic-market system. Bram first points out that as noble of an idea that we view organ donation the fact is most choose not to do so. He suggests that economically, human behavior would increase the number of donations if an incentive were offered. The point is made that people view compensation for organs as illegal when in fact the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act does not forbid organ sale. The need for living donors and the risks that go along with it would be greatly reduced. Brams makes a very strong statement that it is not as unethical to sell organs as most people think; he uses the idea that people say it is an inferior means of obtaining organs but he views it as ethically superior if it offers more people the chance to live. This article gave me a lot of valuable information. I believe his ideas are on the right track. I will use the information in this paper to help me provide the economics of financial compensation.

Joralemon, Donald, and Phil Cox "Body Values." Hastings Center Report 33.1 (2003): 27-33. Print.

Joralemon and Cox have the opinion that the body is not separate from the perception of self and thus is not property to be divided up and sold at a cost. They liken the selling of organs to that of a prostitute selling part of her self for monetary gain. Joralemon and Cox mention the already illegal sale of organs in third world countries where people sell their organs as a means of providing their families with shelter and food. They say this would get even worse and cause many people to be put at risk if it were made legal to sell your organs. Joralemon and Cox then challenge the economics: were would the money come from and wouldn't we be better off as a society if that money were put into the healthcare system for other causes? They mention that a high percent of recipients of transplants die within several years any way, so was that money well spent? It was interesting to look at the opposite view of my own beliefs. Joralemon and Cox obviously have very strong opinions against financial compensation. Comparing organ donation to prostitution was offensive to me. This article will be beneficial to me in defending my own beliefs by looking at the opposition.

Evans, John H. "Commodifying Life? A Pilot Study of Opinions Regarding Financial Incentives for Organ Donation." Journal of Health Politics, Policy & Law 28.6 (2003): 1003-1032. Print.

Evans used several hypothetical scenarios that he presented to his subjects to find out how they would respond to each case, and whether or not financial compensation would alter their response. Evans mentions several ways that this compensation could be paid out including death benefits and vouchers for unpaid medical costs. The results were that most respondents would be persuaded to donate if they were offered compensation, and that the higher the amount the more likely they would agree. The way that Evans presented hypothetical scenarios to the subjects was in my opinion a great way to get responses. Merely asking people what they might do in the event that at a future time they may have to make the decision of donating or not would have not yielded many responses. I really liked this article since it was exactly the type of response that I was looking for. Having the information that Evans provides in his article will help me to persuade my readers that others believe financial compensation is a good idea. I will be using this paper as the starting point for my thesis.