PAYMENTS FOR ORGAN DONORS CONSIDERED.(MAIN)

Byline: PAUL ELIAS Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO -- As the nation's need for organ transplants continues to outstrip supply, the American Medical Association on Sunday grappled with a possible solution once thought taboo: paying dying would-be donors and their families for vital organs.

Such financial incentives are illegal, banned by Congress in 1984, and as a result people needing organ transplants must rely strictly on volunteers.

However, only 25 percent of 78,000 organ transplants currently needed will occur in time to save a life, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, the nonprofit agency that the government pays to oversee the …