Court OKs payment for bone marrow donation

A federal appeals court called bone marrow donation blood parts, not organ parts. The new reading of the federal prohibition could attract thousands more donors.

Los Angeles Times: Pay Ban On Donor Organs Doesn't Include Bone Marrow, Court Says
A federal law banning compensation for organ transplants doesn't extend to bone marrow harvested from a donor's blood, a federal appeals court said Thursday in a ruling that could attract thousands of new donors in a national campaign to save the lives of those afflicted with cancer and genetic disorders (Williams, 12/2).

The Wall Street Journal Law Blog: Blood Feud: Court Backs Paying Some Donors
Plaintiffs said the ruling will help a California group offer financial incentives such as a $3,000 scholarship to donors including African-Americans and people of mixed race who have the most-needed types of cells (Landers, 12/1).

Denver Post: Paying Bone Marrow Donors Not Illegal, Appeals Court Rules
Many people register as marrow donors but cannot be found or decline to go through the time-consuming procedure when they are called. A coalition called MoreMarrowDonors.org has a fund to pay donors $3,000 each, as a scholarship, charity gift or home payment. Blocked by the 1984 organ transplant law -; meant in part to keep the rich from buying rare organs -; the advocates sued through the Institute for Justice (Booth, 12/2).

San Francisco Chronicle: Courts OK Compensation For Some Bone Marrow Donors
Until Thursday's decision, paying bone marrow donors for their blood has been blocked by a 1984 law that makes compensation of selling vital organs a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which overturned a lower court ruling, limits compensation to donors who donate marrow through a newer technology that takes the cells from the person's bloodstream rather than with a needle that extracts the cells from the hip bone (Colliver, 12/2).