Should bone marrow donors be paid

Erin - posted on 07/06/2012

Well as long as it's not black market sales I think yes they should be if they want to sell it. I have 0 negative blood but I'm too small to donate. If I wasn't I'd expect compensation they charge those patients a crap ton of money why shouldn't the perosn who donates get a cut of that profit?

Jakki - posted on 06/24/2012

A friend of a friend has just received a bone marrow donation from a guy in Germany (she's in Australia). The weird thing was a nurse from Sydney got on the plane and flew all the way to Germany, picked up the bone marrow and then came back again, a 72 hour shift. We all thought they should have offered the German guy a free trip to Australia, so at least he got to have a holiday and donate his bone marrow while he was here!

Stifler's - posted on 06/16/2012

I think they should be compensated by the state not the patient. I assumed that's what we're talking about, but that's because I'm Australian. My comparison to blood was only for the match thing, I didn't mean they were on the same level.

Mary - posted on 06/15/2012

My initial opinion after reading this was yes - and then I thought about it some more. My lone reservation with paying donors is that it does greatly increase the potential of creating a situation where your odds of getting bone marrow substantially increase in proportion to your financial status. In other words, those of means have a much better shot at a "cure" than those without. Do we really want to create a system where the "rich" are more likely to receive treatment than those with a lower income?



I'm not sure that you can really compare blood products or sperm with bone marrow. Although the technique has improved over the years, it is still more involved than either of these, and the matching process much more involved and specific. With sperm, there are no matching requirements at all, and with blood products, the suitability requirements are much less complicated. As well, I don't think bone marrow can be banked, so it requires not only finding that rare match, but upon the donor's immediate availability as well.



If it remained the way the pilot program proposed in the article describes, where compensation is provided by a third party charitable source, and the amount is both fixed and regulated, I would be on board. In this scenario, the recipient's personal bank account is not a decisive factor in their ability to obtain a donor. The playing field remains level for all in need.

Becky - posted on 06/14/2012

Oh, and MIchele, I marked your post accidentally. Stupid tablet. :)

Becky - posted on 06/14/2012

If you're being paid for a product or service, you are no longer donating, you are selling. So the question should be, should it be legal to sell your bone marrow? If it were, I would think there would need to be some pretty tight regulations around it, as I could see a lot of potential for exploitation. I don't necessarily think it would be a bad thing, since it could potentially really increase the bank of available bone marrow, but there would need to be protection in place both for sellers and consumers. And I think it would need to be illegal to do it privately - ie, it would only be legal if you went through a licensed bank/facility with all the proper testing. No, "I'll give you my bone marrow for $500,000.00, but the only testing I'll do is enough to determine I'm actually a match."

Kelly - posted on 06/14/2012

If it would get more donors in the door, then yes. In the US, we pay men to donate sperm, women can sell their eggs and even breast milk for profit, and even blood can be banked away for individual use only. Bone marrow regenerates, and is much more vital to the survival of the person on the receiving end than eggs or sperm, yet we have a sickening shortage of both blood and bone marrow, and an abundance of sperm and eggs for sale. Related crime is also virtually non-existent because it eliminates the need for a black market. We have very, very few instances where people are being exploited for their sperm or eggs, but still see somewhat significant numbers where people are trading organs on the black market, and exploiting people for their organs.



Also, donating bone marrow is PAINFUL!!! Few people are willing to go through it for nothing, and from that small number, even fewer are qualified donors.



I do not see how paying donors will cause any harm. The effect of paying donors in the reproductive industry has been very positive, I think it will hold true in this industry as well.

Jodi - posted on 06/14/2012

I do believe they should be compensated for any direct costs (eg. transport, medical, childcare, etc) and time off work, but that's it. Not *paid* in the general sense of the word.

MeMe - Raises Her Hand (-_-) (Mommy Of A Toddler And Teen) - posted on 06/14/2012

I don't think payment should be given but I do agree with Tracey. Time off work should be given, with pay.

Tracey - posted on 06/14/2012

Don't know about payment but employment law should be changed so donors can take time off.

Stifler's - posted on 06/13/2012

Yes if they are sought by the blood bank and they don't even know the person they should be offered compensation. I get calls from the blood bank all the time to donate my o negative blood.