Any lawyers here?

I have none for sale, but I do have a genuine question.

I know that people can't sell their organs when they're alive, but can someone pay to have first refusal on them should the owner die?

In other words, say I have kidneys that would be a perfect match for someone who needed some, could I take a payment to guarantee that said person could have them upon my death?
 
I don't believe that is how it works in the UK. If you leave your organs to be donated then they go to the most needy who matches.

You also can't guarantee that upon death the organs can be used. They could be damaged etc, so what then? Does the person who made the payment demand the money back from a grieving family?

I actually can't believe this is actually a genuine question to be honest.
 
Actually it is a genuine question, just not a nice subject.

It was a topic of conversation at dinner, because I imagined that someone out there with a lot of money would probably like to be able to have first refusal on a liver or kidney from a suitable donor.

So they pay now, probably to more than one person, for the right to a specific organ or organs. They're not buying anything now, they're taking a gamble that a healthy person dies before they do.

Imagine you're damned wealthy but with a failing liver, and there are 100 suitable donors who are prepared to take £10K each to leave theirs to you. For a million quid you've got a pretty good chance that one of them will die over the next few years, and you'll be sorted for a new liver. The potential donors have all enjoyed their windfall too. It's a win-win situation.
 
If you need an organ donor then go and live in Hong Kong and the Chinese will execute a compatible donor to order in a prison on the Chinese mainland close to Hong Kong. Allegedly!
 
budfox said:
In other words, say I have kidneys that would be a perfect match for someone who needed some, could I take a payment to guarantee that said person could have them upon my death?
Click to expand...


No, I think you would fall foul of the human tissue act, you would be trafficking
"
32

Prohibition of commercial dealings in human material for transplantation
(1)
A person commits an offence if he—
(a)gives or receives a reward for the supply of, or for an offer to supply, any controlled material;
(b)seeks to find a person willing to supply any controlled material for reward;
(c)offers to supply any controlled material for reward;
(d)initiates or negotiates any arrangement involving the giving of a reward for the supply of, or for an offer to supply, any controlled material;
(e)takes part in the management or control of a body of persons corporate or unincorporate whose activities consist of or include the initiation or negotiation of such arrangements.

(2)Without prejudice to subsection (1)(b) and (c), a person commits an offence if he causes to be published or distributed, or knowingly publishes or distributes, an advertisement—
(a) inviting persons to supply, or offering to supply, any controlled material for reward, or
(b) indicating that the advertiser is willing to initiate or negotiate any such arrangement as is mentioned in subsection (1)(d)."

So I think you couldn't do such a thing.
 
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