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Amit Gupta hasn't found a marrow transplant match; today's your last chance.

amitguptaneedsyou.com

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Re: Amit Gupta hasn't found a marrow transplant match; today's your last chance.

#31

Post by baddox »

cop359 wrote: post #20
jules wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because that is illegal. In the US, there is the National Organ Transplant Act which forbids paying for organs. In this law, bone marrow is considered an organ. > It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any human organ for valuable consideration for use in human transplantation if the transfer affects interstate commerce. > [...] > The term ''human organ'' means the hu…

Better be in jail but alive (with free health care btw.) then dead. You could do the procedure overseas.

Is it illegal for the person selling as well? It probably isn't worth going to jail for selling your marrow.

Re: Amit Gupta hasn't found a marrow transplant match; today's your last chance.

#32

Post by daenz »

ataggart wrote: post #26
daenz wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Organized crime just squealed with happiness. Abduct someone -> sedate and extract bone marrow -> PROFIT

But Amit could pay some criminal organization for that service right now ; the abduction itself is illegal either way. Allowing for cash incentives would serve to reduce the quantity of unfulfilled demand from which black markets -- and the criminal organizations which supply them -- emerge. At the very least, such incentives would mean far more people listed in donor registries, the dearth of which is the very probl…

> But Amit could pay some criminal organization for that service right now

If he could, why hasn't he then? In the link you pasted, why did so many people die awaiting transplants if was able to be obtained illegally right now? Surely they didn't want to die.

I'm not sure I want to live in a world where the economically oppressed are pressured financially to give up body parts to the wealthy in order to survive. Just my 2 cents.

Re: Amit Gupta hasn't found a marrow transplant match; today's your last chance.

#33

Post by pgambling »

freemarketteddy wrote: post #9

I am a south asian male living in the US.I tried to sign up as a donor.Here is my experience. >Your password needs to be between 8 and 15 characters long, must contain at least 1 number and 1 letter and cannot contain spaces. Seriously WTF....I am sure half of the people who wanted to sign up did not just for this bs! Okay chill...password abcd...... > In the past 5 years have you taken money or drugs in exchange for…

I agree that the form is a bit long, but it didn't take me more than 5 minutes to complete. I got the swab kit a few days later, swabbing took less than a minute, and it was ready to mail. Six minutes of work to potentially save someone's life, just do it.

Re: Amit Gupta hasn't found a marrow transplant match; today's your last chance.

#34

Post by qq66 »

FaceKicker wrote: post #19
qq66 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This would most likely reduce the number of people who would screen themselves. I wouldn't undergo a possibly horrible medical procedure for $100,000, but I might do it to save someone's life and feel like a good person. For further reading, look into social norms vs. market norms, especially the example of the Israeli day care: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=180117 (paywall)

I'd be surprised if that were true; you could always refuse the money and feel like an even better person (or at least just as good). And then it would attract the people who do want/need the money on top of that.

That argument makes sense only in a fully logical environment. The whole body of research into market norms and social norms shows that people are not fully logical in such contexts.

Re: Amit Gupta hasn't found a marrow transplant match; today's your last chance.

#35

Post by zasz »

freemarketteddy wrote: post #9

I am a south asian male living in the US.I tried to sign up as a donor.Here is my experience. >Your password needs to be between 8 and 15 characters long, must contain at least 1 number and 1 letter and cannot contain spaces. Seriously WTF....I am sure half of the people who wanted to sign up did not just for this bs! Okay chill...password abcd...... > In the past 5 years have you taken money or drugs in exchange for…

It costs money to sequence DNA and calculate someone's ancestry. 23andMe loses money whenever it sells a kit. Are you seriously too lazy to save a nonprofit a few hundred bucks by spending 1 second to indicate your race?

Also, every time I buy something at a store, I have to give them my addresses. Including my phone number and a few extra ways to contact me in case I move, and you know, someone is dying and needs my help, sounds pretty reasonable.

Re: Amit Gupta hasn't found a marrow transplant match; today's your last chance.

#36

Post by qq66 »

kevinelliott wrote: post #27

I feel absolutely helpless. I hate this situation. I don't know anyone who qualifies, and I certainly don't. The idea that Amit may not find a donor furiously irritates me. What's worse, none of my Facebook and Twitter followers have relayed the message further the several times I've posted about it. Then there's the swab kit sign up form. Oh my, what a pain. And then the guilt sets in where I begin to think 'Why am…

You're not ignoring those people. By signing up for the registry you can be matched against anyone who needs it. Whether Amit finds a donor or not (fingers crossed) his drive to get people tested will help other South Asian leukemia patients.

Re: Amit Gupta hasn't found a marrow transplant match; today's your last chance.

#37

Post by jey »

baddox wrote: post #29
robertdimarco wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get started with the quick questionnaire at http://marrow.org/Join/Join_Now/Join_Now.aspx and they'll mail the kit to you within a few weeks.

Seems a little late for that, unfortunately.

There's still a lot of other people who need a matching donor.

Re: Amit Gupta hasn't found a marrow transplant match; today's your last chance.

#38

Post by burgerbrain »

freemarketteddy wrote: post #9

I am a south asian male living in the US.I tried to sign up as a donor.Here is my experience. >Your password needs to be between 8 and 15 characters long, must contain at least 1 number and 1 letter and cannot contain spaces. Seriously WTF....I am sure half of the people who wanted to sign up did not just for this bs! Okay chill...password abcd...... > In the past 5 years have you taken money or drugs in exchange for…

I really have a hard time seeing any of this stuff as out of line, particularly asking for your race. Much easier and cheaper to ask you than to figure it out themselves... if it's a privacy thing, why would you be ok with giving them your DNA, but not telling them your race?

Re: Amit Gupta hasn't found a marrow transplant match; today's your last chance.

#40

Post by Tobu »

ataggart wrote: post #26
daenz wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Organized crime just squealed with happiness. Abduct someone -> sedate and extract bone marrow -> PROFIT

But Amit could pay some criminal organization for that service right now ; the abduction itself is illegal either way. Allowing for cash incentives would serve to reduce the quantity of unfulfilled demand from which black markets -- and the criminal organizations which supply them -- emerge. At the very least, such incentives would mean far more people listed in donor registries, the dearth of which is the very probl…

Markets only exist when some regulator sets them up and enforces the terms. Right now it would be very hard to pay for an unwilling donor and there is a high risk for everyone involved. If this were made legal, the assumption would become that every donor was willing and that they got fairly compensated for fulfilling their end of the deal. Criminals and other shady types would find this less risky and more profitable.
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