Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts [Hardcover]

Michele Goodwin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521852803 | ISBN-13: 978-0521852807 | Publication Date: March 27, 2006 | Edition: 1

In direct response to indefinite delays on the national transplantation waitlists and an inadequate supply of organs, a growing number of terminally ill Americans are turning to international underground markets and brokers for organs. Offering a contemporary view of organ and tissue supply and demand, Michele Goodwin explores the legal, racial and social nuances of current altruistic institutionalized procurement schemes. It is understandably not publicized that Chinese inmates sitting on death row and the economically disadvantaged in India and Brazil are the most often compromised co-participants in the negotiation process and supply kidney and other organs for Americans as well as other Westerners willing to shop and pay in the shadow of the law. Goodwin suggests that the best alternative model for organ procurement is a market approach or one based on presumed consent and provides an alternative way of studying how to increase the supply of organs and other body parts as well.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Law professor and bioethicist Goodwin sheds much needed light in this disturbing examination of yet another failure of the American health care system: an organ donation process that leads to the sale of human organs. Despite some highly technical sections, the author artfully uses case law and tragic stories of people caught in the machinery of an organ marketplace that favors the well connected. Even readers well versed in current events are likely to be shocked by the prevalence of "presumed consent" legislation in 28 states that shifts the choice to donate away from potential donors —corneas, for instance, are routinely harvested by local coroners unless a specific prior refusal has been communicated (and sometimes even despite such a directive). The author does a good job of linking this country's history of medical scandals that victimized African-Americans to that community's misgivings about serving as either donors or seekers of a spot on the coveted transplant waiting lists. Her controversial recommendations, which include lifting the taboo on selling cadaveric organs to address the organ deficit, should spark much discussion. (Mar.)
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Review

“"Goodwin is the leading scholar and one of a relative few critically analyzing race and medicine today. Goodwin points out a global crisis that deserves very close attention from lawyers, doctors, judges, the community, and religious thinkers. Black Markets is a provocative and highly intelligent book. It brings to light issues that have been kept in the dark for far too long. This book is an outstanding accomplishment for its depth, nuance, and ability to reach so many audiences because of the legacy of 240 years of legal slavery, one hundred years of Jim Crow where access to health care was illegal for blacks. The legacy of high infant mortality rates and shorter life expectancy haunts blacks even today. This book delves into matters too long ignored. Blacks work harder and make less, pay more for less, live under stress and don't live as long. Professor Goodwin is to be hailed for the quality of her scholarship and academic excellence in Black Markets. Black Markets should be on the shelves of all people who care about the future of biotechnology."“
-Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., Founder and President, Rainbow PUSH Coalition

"A remarkable, fresh analysis of a difficult and terrible public health issue. I could not put the book down."”
-Donna E. Shalala, former Secretary of Health and Human Services

“"From the pillaging a century ago of Black graves to the recent sale of Alistair Cooke's bones to a tissue bank by rogue New York morticians a black market in body parts has been an unspoken but flourishing way of securing human organs and tissue. Michele Goodwin's exploration of the legal, ethical and commercial aspects of this “industry” is a macabre and fascinating study of how our present system of “altruistic donation” has failed to meet the need for such materials. Her proposal for a controlled market restricted to cadaveric organs is a change in public policy designed to meet demand without seducing the poor into selling their body parts.”"
-John J. Paris, S.J. Walsh Professor of Bioethics at Boston College

“"Black Markets powerfully exposes the fraud, bias, and commercialism that plague our supposedly altruistic system of organ donation. Goodwin places the needs and views of African Americans - those hurt most by the current system - squarely at the center of her project. Her daring proposal will cause readers to rethink not only organ donation but the nature of altruism itself.”
-Dorothy Roberts, Kirkland and Ellis, Professor of Law, Northwestern University Law School, author of Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty

“"For many years I and many others in the law and economics movement have urged in vain that a blind faith in altruism leads to a senseless loss in human lives that only a legalized market in organ transplants can overcome. Our chosen tools of analysis have been supply and demand curves. It is therefore heartening to see how Michele Goodwin's all too human take on this burning issue reaches the same conclusion. When the classical economist and the modern race theorist both reach the same conclusion, maybe, just maybe, the bureaucrats who run our sclerotic system of organ transplants will take heed— before more lives are ruined or lost.”"
-Richard A. Epstein, James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law, University of Chicago

“"While everyone may dream of being a hero, when it comes to giving away organs, the reality is starkly different. Despite multi-million dollar publicity campaigns, not enough individuals make the “Gift of Life.” The gap between organ supply and demand continues to grow exponentially. These numbers don't lie, and Michele Goodwin is not afraid of the truth. In her provocative book, she reveals how exclusive reliance on altruistic donations has failed, disproportionately affecting African American patients. As she sheds light onto the current organ procurement system and examines alternatives - from compelled donations to presumed consent and the black market - she finds more exploitation and racial bias. Her solution is bold. The business of savings lives can thrive if we let tissues and cadaveric organs enter the market place and regulate their sales. It takes courage to read this book. As a reward, readers will better understand the historical roots of the problem, and the challenge it presents to the legal system and to our moral assumptions.”"
-Karine Morin, LLM, Director, Ethics Policy, Ethics Group, American Medical Association

"With her extensive research and graceful prose, Michele Goodwin takes us behind the scenes of the organ transplant industry. Black Markets is a pioneering work that weaves together compelling interviews with patients, gripping health care statistics, fascinating legal cases, and sound policy proposals that could transform health care for everyone."
-Lori Andrews, J.D., Professor of Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law and author Sequence

“"In Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts, Michele Goodwin provides an interesting and provocative look at the brave new world of human organ and tissue donation and transplantation. Professor Goodwin explores the many legal and ethical dilemmas that surround this subject, and her wide-ranging research places these issues in their historical, legal, and cultural contexts. Her book provides a thorough and insightful critique of our present-day altruistic system of donation, and she proposes, and ably defends, an alternative system that would combine elements of altruism and compensation. Black Markets is an important contribution to the field and is certain to help shape the debate on these questions in years to come.”"
-Benjamin K. Miller, Former Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Illinois

"This book says important things to lawyers, doctors, and others interested in healthcare law and bioethics. Recommended for academic libraries."
-Library Journal

"This exceptional book is a rational and well-referenced treatise."
-James F. Trotter, M.D., The New England Journal of Medicine

"Goodwin thorough analysis and proposal offer a great contribution to a pressing public health issue that can no longer be ignored."
-JILP

"Black Markets is impeccably researched and persuasively argued...Goodwin's book provides provocative and insightful material with which to continue the conversation about transplant policy."
-Barbara A. Noah, Western New England College School of Law, The Law and Politics Book Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (March 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521852803
• ISBN-13: 978-0521852807
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #377,738 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #57 in Books > Law > Family & Health Law > Health Law

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, July 13, 2006

By 

Joseph A. Weeden (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts (Hardcover)

This is an intriguing expose' on the underground market for human body parts. I would definitely recommend it--it is quite eye-opening!

5.0 out of 5 stars Black Markets, January 7, 2012

By 

Malik McLean - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts (Hardcover)

Greetings. Before reading this book I thought drugs and guns where the number #1 black markets. After reading this important reading I had to come to the realization that body organs/parts tops them both. The author also claims it's based on class status and race on who gets new organs. She validates this fact with documented stories. She even documented a case about a Chinese lady who tried to sell her body parts to help save her child from an illness. This book had me in tears. I give this book two thumbs up. Thanks.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Black Markets : The Supply and Demand of Body Parts, April 4, 2006

By 

Rhea Alexis M. Banks "Rhea Alexis M. Banks" (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts (Hardcover)

This is very interesting reading. Being an avid reader, I am always browsing through books looking for something knowledgeable and different from my usual relationship topics. This caught my attention and I could not put it down. I would never expect a book of this nature to do that. This author did a fantastically wonderful job of shining light on a subject that is very important and does not receive attention. More importantly, it is written in a way that would engage the average person. Great job !!!!