Solving Shortage by Selling OrgansHow a legal kidney market created new problems.

From the show

When Rewards Backfire

In 1988, Iran created a legal system for kidney sales to eliminate transplant waiting lists. It worked, but the solution came at a cost. The government-regulated price for a kidney failed to keep pace with reality, spawning a black market and enabling the wealthy to bypass the poor. This system, designed to solve a supply problem, ultimately commodified human organs and preyed on the most economically desperate citizens, leaving many donors with lasting regret.