Live data from Hacker News

In the rush to harvest body parts, death investigations have been upended

latimes.com

11–20 of 69 posts

Re: In the rush to harvest body parts, death investigations have been upended

#11
post #5

You body is worth a lot of money to your estate. By donating it someone in the medical industry gets to steal that money from your family then profit handsomely from it. That’s why I choose no for organ donation, the whole industry is corrupt and I don’t want to support it, even if it means that some unfortunate sick person is unable to buy my donated kidney for 50-100k in processing fees.

Perhaps that's the case in USA and a few other countries.

But AFAIK on some countries of EU and Brazil, receiving organs is either free or inexpensive.

Re: In the rush to harvest body parts, death investigations have been upended

#12
post #5

You body is worth a lot of money to your estate. By donating it someone in the medical industry gets to steal that money from your family then profit handsomely from it. That’s why I choose no for organ donation, the whole industry is corrupt and I don’t want to support it, even if it means that some unfortunate sick person is unable to buy my donated kidney for 50-100k in processing fees.

Do you know any doctors or medical school students? Ask them how well they would have learned about the human body if they didn't have cadavers to learn with.

Re: In the rush to harvest body parts, death investigations have been upended

#13
post #10
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, for a lot people, I imagine there isn't a difference. I'm going to remain an organ donor. It is said that Diogenes, when asked how he wished to be buried, left instructions to be thrown outside the city wall so wild animals could feast on his body. When asked if he minded this, he said, "Not at all, as long as you provide me with a stick to chase the creatures away!" When asked how he could use the stick sinc…

How we treat the dead has a profound effect on those that are still living. If we just ground up your loved ones on death and turned them into fertilizer or corn feed for cows you might have a very dim view about life. Funerals aren’t for the dead, they are for the living.

> If we just ground up your loved ones on death and turned them into fertilizer or corn feed for cows you might have a very dim view about life.

What is the flow of reasoning here? What does “dim view about life” mean?

Re: In the rush to harvest body parts, death investigations have been upended

#14
post #5

You body is worth a lot of money to your estate. By donating it someone in the medical industry gets to steal that money from your family then profit handsomely from it. That’s why I choose no for organ donation, the whole industry is corrupt and I don’t want to support it, even if it means that some unfortunate sick person is unable to buy my donated kidney for 50-100k in processing fees.

Do you know any doctors or medical school students? Ask them how well they would have learned about the human body if they didn't have cadavers to learn with.

The medical school is paying anyway for that body, $50k or whatever. So why not directly pay the family if the deceased instead of a middle man?

Re: In the rush to harvest body parts, death investigations have been upended

#15
How come you can only be an organ donor or nothing at all? Why is it not possible for your family to sell your body? I'm positive that it would flood the market with bodies and drive the value of your body down, but would at least still cover funeral services.

It would be nice if you could even select what you want to donate and sell, such as sell your skin and donate your organs.

Re: In the rush to harvest body parts, death investigations have been upended

#16
post #5

You body is worth a lot of money to your estate. By donating it someone in the medical industry gets to steal that money from your family then profit handsomely from it. That’s why I choose no for organ donation, the whole industry is corrupt and I don’t want to support it, even if it means that some unfortunate sick person is unable to buy my donated kidney for 50-100k in processing fees.

What a terrifyingly capitalistic view.

You mean like these people in the article who turn donated bodies into cosmetic lip and penis filler?

Re: In the rush to harvest body parts, death investigations have been upended

#17

How come you can only be an organ donor or nothing at all? Why is it not possible for your family to sell your body? I'm positive that it would flood the market with bodies and drive the value of your body down, but would at least still cover funeral services. It would be nice if you could even select what you want to donate and sell, such as sell your skin and donate your organs.

> Why is it not possible for your family to sell your body

Because it's your body, not your families body. A law allowing the family to do this against your wishes will never pass.

Re: In the rush to harvest body parts, death investigations have been upended

#18

How come you can only be an organ donor or nothing at all? Why is it not possible for your family to sell your body? I'm positive that it would flood the market with bodies and drive the value of your body down, but would at least still cover funeral services. It would be nice if you could even select what you want to donate and sell, such as sell your skin and donate your organs.

I'm not saying I like this current system either, I but I could definitely see some downsides to letting people legally sell bodies for profit. It certainly seems chilling to me that people could have serious conversation about "what to do with grandma" if you have to consider not only how much it costs to take care of her, but also how much you could stand to be paid for her. It opens up a lot of unpleasant doors, but I guess its up for debate whether anyone thinks that's worse that what we have.

Re: In the rush to harvest body parts, death investigations have been upended

#19
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a terrifyingly capitalistic view.

What’s terrifying about it? That it shatters your previous understanding of the industry or that it implies some medical dystopia? Would you prefer to instead called it a terrifyingly rational view?

Here in the UK healthcare is seen as a right. Hospitals and recipients of organs don't pay for them, and nobody is making money off of donated bodies.

The idea that access to life-saving treatment is based on ability to pay, and that there are corporations making profit at the expense of people's health and well-being is pretty terrifying to me. There's nothing rational about such a system.

Re: In the rush to harvest body parts, death investigations have been upended

#20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you know any doctors or medical school students? Ask them how well they would have learned about the human body if they didn't have cadavers to learn with.

The medical school is paying anyway for that body, $50k or whatever. So why not directly pay the family if the deceased instead of a middle man?

[deleted]
Post reply on HN