Ken Mason: ‘This could be the beginning of a trend in organ selling’

Whether it is a case of paying for funeral expenses or buying an organ, the essential point is that it is a way around the antipathy to selling organs in one way or another.

A crucial point is, of course, that it is about paying people to donate organs who otherwise wouldn’t do so.

That is a very dangerous situation, as it could be the beginning of a trend in organ selling and all the moral dangers that brings with it. There is the concept of people not wanting to sell their organs, but changing their mind because money is involved, even if it is a matter of funeral expenses. There is still the economic and financial inducement aspect in all of this.

Payments for organs in the form of funeral expenses could be extended and people could start to say that if organs can be sold in one situation then why not loosen the rules across the board?

The only difference between the selling of organs outright and the idea of funeral expenses being covered is that in the latter case the money would be ringfenced. There is also the question of whether it would be economically viable for the health service to pay for this idea, which could turn out to be very expensive.

The NHS has to spend money on all sorts of things and this would add to the pressure on the service during difficult financial times.

There is a real doubt that it would save the NHS money and it would be a mistake to argue that it would.

In terms of fairness and justice there could also be a problem, as people could say that they signed up to this idea in good faith, but if their organ isn’t any use after their death they would get nothing.

Whatever is said about there being no guarantees, there is still a strong case that says this would be unfair.

People aged over 70 years would also probably be excluded from this, as the organs of men and women of that age would probably not be good enough for transplants.

It is bad enough in terms of grief and sadness for families when someone dies, but this is something that could make it worse. One of the reasons for organ shortages is that people don’t want to upset others, but this would just lead to more upset by talking about paying for funerals in exchange for a person’s organs.

• Ken Mason is professor of forensic medicine at the University of Edinburgh.