A Pound of Flesh?

Many Americans feel that paying taxes costs an arm and a leg. Now the federal government is asking for a little more--hearts, livers, and other assorted organs. The Internal Revenue Service is sending 70 million households organ donor cards along with their tax returns.

The feds hope to increase the supply of donated organs, which falls well below the demand. (See "Hey Buddy, Can You Spare a Liver?," Citings, February.) Nearly 4,000 Americans died in 1996 while on a waiting list for a transplant. About 50,000 are on waiting lists. The federal government prohibits any compensation to organ donors.