Court: Bone marrow donors can be paid

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LOS ANGELES, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- A federal law forbidding compensation for organ transplants doesn't apply to bone marrow harvested from a donor's blood, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Bone marrow had been on a list of "organs and parts thereof" for which donors could face criminal charges for providing them in exchange for money or other "valuable consideration" under the 1984 National Organ Transplant Act, the Los Angeles Times reported.

However, on Tuesday the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled marrow cells taken from a donor's blood were blood parts, not organ parts, and that a donor can be paid for a donation.

The ruling could attract thousands of new donors in a national campaign to save the lives of those suffering from cancer and genetic disorders, health advocates said.

"This is a fundamental change to how deadly blood diseases will be treated in the country," Jeff Rowes, an Institute for Justice attorney who argued the case before the 9th Circuit panel, said. "Compensation will expand the donor pool by at least hundreds and potentially thousands each year."