Conclusion
The recent paper by B-R should be applauded for bringing to light an extremely important and controversial public policy issue. The authors of this note have been students of antitrust, regulation, and related microeconomic policy issues for over fifteen years. Yet, they can safely say that they have never encountered a single policy that is more at odds with the public welfare than is the current organ procurement policy.
As economists, it is easy to describe and analyze the tremendous inefficiencies, waste, and market distortions created by the current altruistic system. But as human beings, they authors are incensed at the unnecessary suffering and loss of life that is caused by the current policy and is so poorly revealed in formal diagrams. Hopefully, B-R's paper, along with this corrective note, will help to spawn a more rational public policy toward cadaveric organ procurement.
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References
Dwane L. Barney and R. Larry Reynolds, “An Economic Analysis of Transplant Organs,”Atlantic Economic Journal, XVII, 3, 1989, pp. 12–20.
David L. Kaserman, “Opposition To A Market System of Organ Procurement: Ethics of Economics?,” Auburn University, April 1989.
David L. Kaserman and A. H. Barnett, “Physicians' Incentives in Non-Market Systems of Cadaveric Organ Procurement,” Auburn University, October 1989.
Ron Winslow, “Hospitals Rush To Transplant Organs,”Wall Street Journal, August 29, 1989, p. B1.
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Kaserman, D.L., Barnett, A.H. An economic analysis of transplant organs: A comment and extension. Atlantic Economic Journal 19, 57–63 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02299076
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02299076