Preferred allocation for registered organ donors

A shortage of transplantable organs in the United States can be traced to low rates of donation. Incentives for organ donation might partially remedy these organ shortfalls. Although incentives countervail the dominant philanthropy model, this model is neither well supported by ethical argument nor strictly applied. Preferred allocation, consisting in the practice of awarding extra priority points to previously registered organ donors who need transplants, is attractive in that it offers a potentially effective incentive while deviating less radically from entrenched practices than financial incentives. It is supported by the public and conforms to intuitions about justice and reciprocity. Moreover, it highlights moral features of the transplant community as a particular moral community within the greater medical community.