Capitalism is a wonderful system which allows all resources including our flesh and blood to part of the global economy. The simple fears of weak-kneed liberals should not stop the advancement of freedom.

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I can’t tell you how much it tears at me to hear stories like yours! I know of so many people who are in desperate situations like yours, because I work in the employee benefits field, particularly medical insurance.

In my own family, my brother’s health care bills are over $1 million now. He is bankrupt and is on Medicaid. He’s uninsurable at any price. He has lost his home and has basically nothing because the government will not let you have any assets and be on Medicaid. His transplant rejection drugs are $6,000 per month.

I hope you will not give up fighting the insurance company. Tell them you want to appeal it, and go as far as you can up the ladder. Contact the Insurance Commissioner of your state. Contact your state representative and congressperson. Write a letter to your local paper. Call your local TV station and offer your story. When the chips are down, you do what you’ve got to do. Finally, ask the doctor if the pharmaceutical company has a plan to cover medicine for people in your situation. Don’t give up yet!

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I commented a few days ago about a specific situation I find myself in. In short, my wife has suffered from excruciating pain from a fall she took down a flight of stairs 19 years ago. The condition has worsened. Even after numerous surgical procedures.

A new doctor has found a combination of drugs that seem to be working in providing her with a measure of relief that is allowing her to once again experience a level of quality of life that we had almost given up on.

Our insurance company has refused to cover these drugs because they have not been approved for pain relief even though they work. The cost is prohibitive (about $900 per month). In about 6 months or so we will have gone through what is left of the equity we had in our house which was sold to pay for medical bills.

If I could sell a kidney and it would give me the resources to provide for my wife’s treatment I’d do it in a heartbeat.

Altruistically I’d like to belive that “greater love has no man than this . . .” But in this case it would be prompted more by desperation than anything else.

It’s easy to talk about hypothetical situations until faced with reality. I can live without a kidney, or one eye etc. But I wouldn’t want to withhold treatment for a loved one just because my value is measured in dollars.

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Indeed. But there was a case where not all of the stakeholders were involved in the decision to buy blood, resulting in some bad things. So the practice was stopped.

Presently, in a way, you can purchase your own blood for surgery. Many hospitals allow you to “bank” blood in exchange for a reduction in your bill. It can come from you, family members, or even members of your church.

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I suspect that we will find the same about organs.

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Absolutely, we need to encourage people to be donors.

I’m not saying I’m all in favor of paying people. But if we do, there should be strict guidelines.

There are strict guidelines around paying people for sperm and eggs, for example.

There is a “slippery slope” on this matter. But we have all kinds of “slippery slopes” in life. In a free society, you learn to deal with those issues. You involve all of the stakeholders – the donors, the recipients, the physicians, the legal community, and the ethicists.

I know this much – if you’re a parent and you’re watching your child die for lack of a transplant, you might be more open to the idea of organ purchase, if it can be done legally and ethically.

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I assume that the expenses of organ donation are paid by the recipient. That seems like fair ocmpensation for a voluntary contribution. What we need is to persuade more people to be donors.

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