Should there be a cash incentive for organ donation?

Cash incentives and the payment of funeral costs are among a range of suggested options to encourage human organ and tissue donation. Is this the right approach?
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is carrying out a 12 week public consultation to find out if it is ethical to use cash incentives and the payment of funeral costs to increase donations of organs, eggs and sperm.
Demand for organ donors has increased in recent years and now far exceeds supply. Each year 1,000 people in the UK die while waiting for transplants.
Are cash incentives the right approach? Would a cash payment encourage you to donate? Are there other ways to increase the amount of people willing to donate their organs, eggs or sperm? Have you benefitted from organ donation, do you think this is ethical?

I have carried a organ donor card for years.I have never and would never dream of excepting payment for this.
Just my opinion.

I have a donor card and I'm registered online with them too..I think it's a good idea for them to pay for your funeral if u give organs..they can pay for mine when I go and they can have everything they can salvage

If its going to create more organ donors, then yes, its a good idea. Anything that improves the chances of the hundreds of people on transplant waiting lists has to be a good thing. I don't think it should be necessary to go to these lengths but if it helps it's got to be good.

seems a bit unethical to me but thats just my opinion. I understand the need to find a way to increase organ donations but to have to pay for them is wrong. I carry a donor card and am on the register as well and wouldnt dream of wanting a payment for it. As far as I'm concerned it would be a privilage to be able to help someone else live when my life is over

im biased on this one coz anthing that could give me a kidney id take ive only been on transplant list a year some people have waited over ten years my dad died waiting
dont get me wrong i dont think its right but if it will help im all for it i know what its like to be that person living your life day by day waiting for that one phone call that could safe your life and while you wait for that call wishing you would die in your sleep so you dont have to suffer the pain anymore or see your family go through it
i believe in the opt out route this is where everyone donates their organs unless you fill in a card or register not to
if they would let me i would donate everything and anything to save a life

personally i wouldnt want payment, but we do live in a capitalist society, so whatever helps i think.

sweep wrote:

im biased on this one coz anthing that could give me a kidney id take ive only been on transplant list a year some people have waited over ten years my dad died waiting

sorry to hear that sweep, fingers crossed for you!

I'm sorry to hear that sweep, hope you get the news your waiting for soon. My husbands only got one working kydney and has problems stones in that so we're hoping his surviving kydney doesnt get damaged like his other one did. It did in the past stop working but seems ok now touch wood

I agree, the opt out rule would be a much better option

I agree its unethical but unfortunately not everyone thinks the same way as we all do. Personally I wouldn't want any reward for helping save someone's life but there are a lot of people out there who would. I also am of the opinion that the opt-out method is the way to go for the simple reason that a lot of people just don't get around to doing anything about carrying a donor card or registering on the donor list.