Ban on bone marrow sales challengedBan on bone marrow sales challenged

[The Straight Story]

Ban on bone marrow sales challenged
A lawsuit urges compensation for those who give the life-saving stem cells, hoping to broaden the pool of donors.

A tall, blue-eyed blonde with an Ivy League education can command five figures when she sells her eggs to aspiring parents. People who donate sperm or give blood in the name of helping others also may do so for a fee.

But donors of bone marrow, just as naturally replenishable and no longer very painful to extract, risk up to five years in prison if they accept compensation for providing life-saving cells to those stricken with cancer, leukemia or genetic disorders.

More than 3,000 Americans die each year waiting for a suitable marrow donor, say cancer patients and families mounting the first legal challenge to a ban on organ and marrow sales enacted by Congress 27 years ago.

In a case argued before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last week, their attorney said that treating inexhaustible marrow cells like kidneys and livers is irrational, unconstitutional and devastating for those waiting for altruistic strangers to come forward and save their sick children's lives.

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-me-bone-marrow-suit-20110221,0,2061481.story

[ProgressiveProfessor]

1. I have given marrow twice

My medical costs were covered, my time off was not. I was glad to do it. Never occured to me that it could be sold.

I thought paid blood donations were still illegal.