The report of the U.S. Task Force on Organ Transplantation: criticisms and alternatives

This article discusses the recommendations for the acquisition and distribution of organs in the Report of the U.S. Task Force on Organ Transplantation. It first considers several possible means of acquiring organs and offers a conception of the relations which a person, his or her family, and the state have to the bodily remains. The article then examines the idea of need for organs and considers certain principles for weighing outcome and need in distribution decisions. It also criticizes the report's recommendations for the distribution of blood type O material, offers a proposal for line-jumping, and criticizes the report's arguments for federal subsidy of organ transplantation.