Israel considers paying people for donating a kidney

The severe shortage of kidneys for transplantation has induced Israel's health ministry to make a 180 degree turn in its policy and prepare a bill allowing compensation to be paid to people who donate a kidney for transplantation.

Averse to the idea of organ “selling,” the ministry's legal experts stipulated that the compensation—whose amount has not yet been set—would be considered reimbursement to donors for their time, inconvenience, discomfort, and recovery.

If the bill is passed by the 16th Knesset (parliament), due to be elected on 28 January, it would be the first of its kind in the world, said ministry …