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Trading tissues for freedom: incentivizing stem cell and solid organ donation in the incarcerated population

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 58, pages 717–718 (2023)Cite this article

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Would you willingly undergo a potentially unpleasant, possibly risky procedure in an operating room requiring either regional or general anesthesia…in exchange for your freedom? Many would undoubtedly say yes. What if you merely had to endure the numerous blood draws, medical tests, and diagnostic procedures that are required of potential bone marrow or solid organ donors? Again, most individuals would assuredly agree to this choice if the result was freedom. But what if the very system that has curtailed your freedom is the one offering the “choice”? Is it any choice at all? This scenario is exactly what the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is exploring—that incarcerated individuals may be willing to trade their bone marrow and/or solid organs for reduced prison time—and the problems with this scenario are myriad and complex.

More than 100,000 people are currently listed on the national solid organ transplant waiting list in the United States (US) alone, and 17 die each day waiting for an organ transplant [1]. An additional 18,000 people are diagnosed annually with conditions for which a related or unrelated matched bone marrow or stem cell donor is the best treatment option, yet 70% of these individuals will not have a match able to donate [2]. These sobering statistics highlight the paucity of solid organs and bone marrow/stem cells available for transplantation in the US.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ethics Consultation Service & Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine Section, Veterans Affairs Loma Linda Healthcare System, Loma Linda, CA, USA

    David M. Chooljian

  2. Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, CA, USA

    David M. Chooljian

  3. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Jeremy W. Jacobs

  4. Department of Pathology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA

    Brian D. Adkins

  5. Department of Medicine, Hematology, Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Section, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

    Bipin N. Savani

  6. Department of Dermatology, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT, USA

    Lorin A. Bibb

  7. The Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

    Garrett S. Booth

Authors
  1. David M. Chooljian
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  2. Jeremy W. Jacobs
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  3. Brian D. Adkins
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  4. Bipin N. Savani
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  5. Lorin A. Bibb
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  6. Garrett S. Booth
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Contributions

DMC, JWJ, BDA, and GSB drafted the paper and revised the paper. BNS and LAB revised the paper. All authors approved the final version.

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Correspondence to Jeremy W. Jacobs.

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Chooljian, D.M., Jacobs, J.W., Adkins, B.D. et al. Trading tissues for freedom: incentivizing stem cell and solid organ donation in the incarcerated population. Bone Marrow Transplant 58, 717–718 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41409-023-01954-0

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