Have a Heart. We’ll Send the Bill: “Last weekend American moviegoers shelled out $23.6 million to watch John Q. Archibald, played by Denzel Washington, hold an emergency room hostage because his HMO wouldn’t spend $250,000 for his dying son’s heart transplant. One wonders how many hearts could have been purchased for that $23.6 million if the supply of organs for transplant were expanded through monetary incentives.

Sound ghoulish? Bear with me. The standing American policy of the distribution of transplant organs can be summarized in one proposition: It is divine to give, but evil to sell. Altruism is chic; individuals are encouraged to give their organs at death and even during life. And they do, chiefly to close family members. But trade is verboten: It is a criminal offense to sell organs, either during life or after death, to strangers.”Wall Street Journal Not that I support this, but unfortunately the WSJ is probably perfectly in tune with the sentiment of the times — that altruism is dead and that people will only do something for a stranger from pecuniary interest.