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Comment by hanniabu | Hacker News Reader

How come you can only be an organ donor or nothing at all? Why is it not possible for your family to sell your body? I'm positive that it would flood the market with bodies and drive the value of your body down, but would at least still cover funeral services.

It would be nice if you could even select what you want to donate and sell, such as sell your skin and donate your organs.

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I'm not saying I like this current system either, I but I could definitely see some downsides to letting people legally sell bodies for profit. It certainly seems chilling to me that people could have serious conversation about "what to do with grandma" if you have to consider not only how much it costs to take care of her, but also how much you could stand to be paid for her. It opens up a lot of unpleasant doors, but I guess its up for debate whether anyone thinks that's worse that what we have.

What stops a medical provider right now from letting someone die because they stand to profit more than if care is given to keep the patient alive?

On top of fear of malpractice suits and general well intention of doctors and nurses, medical providers make a lot more money from the provision of services than from being corpse brokers.

The article discusses a system where it is often difficult determine cause of death due to the harvesting of parts and preservation processes employed for harvesting activities. With this being the case, there are many instances where unscrupulous actors can have a reduced chance of being discovered.

Depending on who is paying the bills, it may not be very profitable, if at all, to provide services. Especially after cost of money considerations are factored in due to how long it can take to actually receive payment.

Have you ever researched the outcome of malpractice suits? People almost never win nowadays, usually because doctors must testify against other doctors. It is impossible to hold them accountable and now there are usually caps on damages.

It's so frustrating to see people deny truths because they don't like them. I know what you say to be true. I have experienced it and have seen many other victims of medical malpractice experience it. Money always wins and doctors and their insurance companies lobby for laws and establish facilities in areas with a more friendly jury pool (higher financial classes and peers). But I constantly hear how "people are just out for a payday" and how "easy" it is to sue and win from people who have no idea. Medical mistakes are the THIRD leading cause of death. They ruined my life. But every time the topic comes up and people speak about it like you did they are downvoted, ignored, dismissed. The same as the victims. People are just terrible so much of the time. No empathy or ethical/moral center.

> conversation about "what to do with grandma"

I'd think it'd be similar to the current situation where the (eventually dead) person has to opt-in. It can also be put in the will so that family members aren't aware of it and kill you for profit.

My ex-wife's family use to argue about who gets what when grandma dies in front of grandma all the time. In other words there is already money involved in grandma's death whether or not her body is also worth something.

> Why is it not possible for your family to sell your body

Because it's your body, not your families body. A law allowing the family to do this against your wishes will never pass.

> Because it's your body, not your family's body

A dead person can't own property, which is why wills, trusts, and laws of intestate succession exist.

That's not why.

You also not allowed to sell your own body.

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