Bizarre: UK Prof. Says Students Should Sell Their Kidneys…To Pay Off College Debt

Currently, the United Kingdom's Human Tissue Act makes it illegal to sell one's organs or bodily tissues. But, Sue Rabbitt Roff, a prominent, American-born social scientist believes that this law should be stricken from the books.

According to Roff, people -- particularly students -- should be allowed to sell their kidneys so that they can pay off university debts. The academic, who teaches at the University of Dundee in Scotland, believes that such a move would enable students to collect tens of thousands of pounds (in fact, she even places a value on the kidney donation: £28,000 -- nearly $46,000 in U.S. dollars).

(Click the image above to watch a video interview with Roff)

Aside from the monetary value, Roff says the move would help save lives. Her controversial comments were published on Thursday in an article she penned for the British Medical Journal. In an interview with The Scotsman, she reinforced her views, saying:

"We are allowing young people to undertake £20,000 to £30,000 of university fee payments.

We allow them to burden themselves with these debts. Why can't we allow them to do a very kind and generous thing but also meet their own needs?"

She begins her article by setting the stage with these dramatic words:

At least three people died today in the United Kingdom because they couldn’t get a kidney transplant. Several thousand more will attend dialysis units. There are increasing numbers of patients, usually young, whose doctors would like to give them “pre-emptive” kidney transplants instead of starting dialysis, which is harsh on the patient and expensive for NHS resources. A transplanted kidney will “pay for itself” within 18 months.

At least one student group is discontented by her message. Scotland's National Union of Students called the idea "ludicrous" and claimed that students shouldn't be expected to sell a body part in order to subsidize their education.

This raises a variety of questions about how such a law, should it be implemented, would impact the lives of the poor in the U.K. Considering that people on the lower rungs of the economic strata are often operating out of desperation, it is possible that these individuals would be more apt to sell their organs. This, of course, poses some serious questions about the moral and ethical issues attached to such a proposal. As The Scotsman noted, experts have mirrored this sentiment:

Dr Calum MacKellar, director of research at the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, said the move would be exploitative.

"To place a financial value on human beings or parts of human beings undermines the inherent dignity of the human person and the innate as well as immeasurable worth of all individuals," he said.

"A legal, regulated market in human body parts would end up exploiting those who have very restrictive financial means such as many students and foreigners."

But, not everyone stands opposed. In an article on Forbes.com, Adam Smith Institute Fellow Tim Worstall writes (bizarrely, touting Iran for allowing its citizens to sell organs):

I of course support Dr. Roff: for I have a feeling that I might have been the person who planted the idea in the first place. Wearing my think tank wonk hat I suggested this last year. This was then picked up by one of the Scottish newspapers and used as a lead story*.

Whether I am the source or not it still sounds to me like a seriously good idea. The NHS would save money, transplants are cheaper than dialysis over the long term, and some 1,000 people a year would live longer lives rather than going through protracted and painful early deaths.

In the end, ones stance comes down to values on human dignity. It's a bizarre debate, but one that apparently needs to be had.