Incentivizing deceased organ donation: a Swedish priority-setting perspective.

Area of Science:

• Medical Ethics
• Public Health Policy
• Behavioral Economics

Background:

• Current deceased organ donation models, reliant on altruism, are insufficient to meet demand, leading to a critical organ shortage.
• This gap between organ supply and demand results in missed opportunities to save lives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a compensated deceased organ donation model to alleviate organ scarcity.
• To assess the ethical compatibility of this proposal within the Swedish healthcare system.

Main Methods:

• The proposal integrates extrinsic (financial compensation), intrinsic, and signalling incentives based on behavioral agency theory.
• Ethical compatibility is evaluated against Swedish healthcare principles: human dignity, needs, solidarity, and cost-effectiveness.

Main Results:

• A model is proposed offering a 5,000 compensation for funeral expenses to the deceased's estate or family.
• Incentives include options for diverting compensation to charity, respecting the donor's explicit will.

Conclusions:

• The compensated deceased donation model is deemed compatible with Swedish healthcare values, warranting serious consideration.
• Potential ethical challenges, including coercion, commodification, and public trust, must be acknowledged and addressed.