Donor Organs Called ‘National Resource’ : Task Force Wants Sales Forbidden, Transplants for All in Need

A federal task force today rejected the concept of selling organs for human transplants and said anyone who needs such surgery should be given a chance regardless of race, sex or ability to pay.

The 25-member Task Force on Organ Transplantation, created by the Department of Health and Human Services at the request of Congress, said donated organs are a “national resource” and proposed new ways to nationalize distribution.

The panel’s report concluded there should be no intrastate, national or international sales of donated organs or for-profit solicitation from living donors. Federal law already prohibits interstate organ sales.

“One major reason for rejecting commercialization of organ procurement is that society’s moral values militate against regarding the body as a commodity,” the report said.

The task force recommended establishing a single national system for organ sharing so patients on waiting lists would have a larger pool of potential organs to receive.

The report also recommended that heart and liver transplants, like kidney transplants, be covered by Medicaid, Medicare, or other public or private health benefit programs. The cost to Medicare and Medicaid could be as high as $21.7 million for heart transplants alone.

HHS announced a pilot program on June 27 under which Medicare now covers the cost of some heart transplants.