Organ Donation

Iran leads the way in market principles. More here.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs' move to Tennessee, where waits are short, from California, where waits are long, to get a liver transplant served as a boldface reminder last year of the enduring problem. "There's no question there are patients chasing organs rather than the organs coming to the patients," Dr. James Pomposelli, a transplant surgeon told the Wall Street Journal at the time.


Now, would you believe that Iran may have cracked the problem by paying living donors a modest amount, practically eliminating kidney shortages. The Iranian government pays living donors the equivalent of about $1,200 and throws in a year of some health coverage. Recipients give the donors a few thousand dollars more through a sanctioned, nonprofit intermediary.