Organ trade
Encyclopedia
Organ trade is the trade
involving human organs for transplantation
. There is a worldwide shortage of organs available for transplantation, possibly a result of regulations forbidding their trafficking.
were introduced. This along with a lack of medical regulation helped foster the organ market. Living donor
procedures include kidney
, liver
, cornea
and lung
transplants. Most organ trade involves kidney or liver transplants.
Before legislation passed in 1994, India
had a successful legal market in organ trading. Low cost and availability brought in business from around the globe and transformed India into one of the largest kidney transplant centers in the world. Several problems began surfacing during the period of legal organ trade in India. In some cases patients were unaware a kidney transplant procedure even took place. Other problems included patients being promised an amount much higher than what was actually paid out. Ethical issues surrounding contribution donating pushed the Indian government to pass legislation banning the sale of organs.
The sale of organs was legal in the Philippines
until a ban took effect in March 2008.
In China
, organs are often procured from executed prisoners. Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, estimated that 90 percent of organs from China are from deceased prisoners. China still suffers a shortage of organs for transplant even with more lax regulation. The Chinese government, after receiving severe scrutiny from the rest of the world, has passed legislation ending the legal sale of organs. However, no legislation currently prohibits the collection of organs from deceased inmates who sign agreements before execution.
In Iran
the practice of selling one's kidney for profit is legal. Iran currently has no wait lists for Kidney transplantation
. Kidney sales are legal and regulated. The Charity Association for the Support of Kidney Patients (CASKP) and the Charity Foundation for Special Diseases (CFSD) control the trade of organs with the support of the government. The organizations match donors to recipients, setting up tests to ensure compatibility. The amounts paid to the donor vary in Iran but the average figures are $1200 for kidney donation. Employment opportunities are also offered in some cases.
Illegal goods
are often high priced and unstable in the black market. The amount a donor would receive for selling their organs depends on the location and available supply. The average reported price around the world that a donor receives for his kidney is $5,000, while the average price paid on the black market to receive the kidney is $150,000. Liver donors see similar returns.
In February 2007, an investigation by The Observer
into India's cash-for-organs trade revealed that transplants were making fortunes for middle men and brokers preying on desperate victims of the tsunami who were selling their kidneys on the black market.
In 2007 a man in the United Kingdom
became the first person convicted under the Human Tissue Act 2004
by trying to sell his kidney online for £24,000 in order to pay off his gambling debts.
On June 27, 2008, Indonesia
n Sulaiman Damanik, 26, pleaded guilty in Singapore
court for sale of his kidney to Tangs
executive chair, Tang Wee Sung, 55, for 150 million rupiah (US $22,200). The Transplant Ethics Committee must approve living donor kidney transplants. Organ trading is banned in Singapore and in many other countries to prevent the exploitation of "poor and socially disadvantaged donors who are unable to make informed choices and suffer potential medical risks". Toni, 27, the other accused, donated a kidney to an Indonesian patient in March, alleging he was the patient's adopted son, and was paid 186 million rupiah (US $20,200). Upon sentence, both would suffer either 12 months in jail or a fine of 10,000 Singapore dollars (US $7,300).
In April 2010, six Israeli
s were charged with suspicion of running an international organ trafficking ring and breaking promises to donors to pay for their removed kidneys. According to police, one of the arrested suspects is a retired Israeli army general. The traffickers offered up to $100,000 per kidney, but in at least two cases didn't pay the donors after the organs were surgically removed, police said.
In November 2010, Israelis and South Africans were caught by the police for organ trafficking through Netcare.
In November and December 2010, Israelis and a Turkish national were reported to be involved in organ trafficking in Kosovo.
In April of 2011, a high school student in China's Anhui province, unbeknownst to his parents, sold his kidney for 20,000 yuan (US $3000 at the time) so he could purchase an iPad 2. The broker contacted him over the internet.
and former chairman of the New Zealand Bioethics Council, has said that "[s]elling an organ should no longer be a criminal offence", arguing that "[p]unishing people for trying to sell their organs [...] infringes on a right to decide what to do with one's own body." He says that while "[p]eople who are desperate lay themselves open to exploitation and deceit, and organ sellers are exploited and deceived in black markets now", he thinks that "the answer is to regulate the market, not to drive it underground."
The illegal status of organ trade creates a price ceiling
for organs at zero dollars. This price ceiling affects supply and demand creating a shortage.
According to a report published by the Cato Institute
, a think tank, the elimination of the price ceiling would eliminate the shortage. It is estimated that in America, if 0.06% of individuals aged 18–65 donated a kidney the waiting list for organs would be fulfilled. Currently with little incentives to donate an organ approximately 6,000 people die yearly waiting for a transplant organ. It has been argued by David Holcberg that the regulation of organ trade could solve the organ shortage and create safer and fair practices for donors. However, the idea of organ "scarcity" had been opposed by Ivan Illich and other authors who argued that "scarcity" is an "artificially created need". There is not a real shortage of organs, but "excess and wasted" organs. Scarcity only exists for some groups of people—those who were denied the organs, and those who could not afford them. So what needs to be regulated, according to these authors, is organs procurement and distribution practices.
Legalization of human organ trading is opposed by a variety of human rights groups, including Organs Watch, a group established by medical anthropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes
who was also instrumental in exposing illegal international organ selling rings.
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
involving human organs for transplantation
Organ transplant
Organ transplantation is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. The emerging field of regenerative medicine is allowing scientists and engineers to create organs to be...
. There is a worldwide shortage of organs available for transplantation, possibly a result of regulations forbidding their trafficking.
Legal organ trade
In the 1970s pharmaceuticals that prevent organ rejectionTransplant rejection
Transplant rejection occurs when transplanted tissue is rejected by the recipient's immune system, which destroys the transplanted tissue. Transplant rejection can be lessened by determining the molecular similitude between donor and recipient and by use of immunosuppressant drugs after...
were introduced. This along with a lack of medical regulation helped foster the organ market. Living donor
Organ transplant
Organ transplantation is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. The emerging field of regenerative medicine is allowing scientists and engineers to create organs to be...
procedures include kidney
Kidney
The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...
, liver
Liver
The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
, cornea
Cornea
The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Together with the lens, the cornea refracts light, with the cornea accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical power. In humans, the refractive power of the cornea is...
and lung
Lung
The lung is the essential respiration organ in many air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart...
transplants. Most organ trade involves kidney or liver transplants.
Before legislation passed in 1994, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
had a successful legal market in organ trading. Low cost and availability brought in business from around the globe and transformed India into one of the largest kidney transplant centers in the world. Several problems began surfacing during the period of legal organ trade in India. In some cases patients were unaware a kidney transplant procedure even took place. Other problems included patients being promised an amount much higher than what was actually paid out. Ethical issues surrounding contribution donating pushed the Indian government to pass legislation banning the sale of organs.
The sale of organs was legal in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
until a ban took effect in March 2008.
In China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, organs are often procured from executed prisoners. Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, estimated that 90 percent of organs from China are from deceased prisoners. China still suffers a shortage of organs for transplant even with more lax regulation. The Chinese government, after receiving severe scrutiny from the rest of the world, has passed legislation ending the legal sale of organs. However, no legislation currently prohibits the collection of organs from deceased inmates who sign agreements before execution.
In Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
the practice of selling one's kidney for profit is legal. Iran currently has no wait lists for Kidney transplantation
Kidney transplantation
Kidney transplantation or renal transplantation is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage renal disease. Kidney transplantation is typically classified as deceased-donor or living-donor transplantation depending on the source of the donor organ...
. Kidney sales are legal and regulated. The Charity Association for the Support of Kidney Patients (CASKP) and the Charity Foundation for Special Diseases (CFSD) control the trade of organs with the support of the government. The organizations match donors to recipients, setting up tests to ensure compatibility. The amounts paid to the donor vary in Iran but the average figures are $1200 for kidney donation. Employment opportunities are also offered in some cases.
Illegal organ trading
Poverty and loopholes in legislation contribute to the illegal trade of organs. Poverty is seen in all countries with a large black market for organs. This, however, is not the only factor affecting the flourishing illegal markets, and some of the poorest countries in the world do not have an organ trade. Legislation is another contributing factor in the organ black market. In Jordan, organ trade is illegal but in many cases organ donors are brought into Iran from Jordan to perform procedures. India's Transplantation of Human Organs Act (THOA) requires that an organ donor must be a relative, spouse, or donating for reasons of "affection". No monetary transactions for organs are legal in India currently, but there are no laws concerning funds given to a spouse. The spousal inclusion provides a loophole for illegal trade; in some cases contribution donors simply marry the recipient to avoid legal penalty.Illegal goods
Underground economy
A black market or underground economy is a market in goods or services which operates outside the formal one supported by established state power. Typically the totality of such activity is referred to with the definite article as a complement to the official economies, by market for such goods and...
are often high priced and unstable in the black market. The amount a donor would receive for selling their organs depends on the location and available supply. The average reported price around the world that a donor receives for his kidney is $5,000, while the average price paid on the black market to receive the kidney is $150,000. Liver donors see similar returns.
In February 2007, an investigation by The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
into India's cash-for-organs trade revealed that transplants were making fortunes for middle men and brokers preying on desperate victims of the tsunami who were selling their kidneys on the black market.
In 2007 a man in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
became the first person convicted under the Human Tissue Act 2004
Human Tissue Act 2004
The Human Tissue Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which consolidated previous legislation and created the Human Tissue Authority to "regulate the removal, storage, use and disposal of human bodies, organs and tissue."...
by trying to sell his kidney online for £24,000 in order to pay off his gambling debts.
On June 27, 2008, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n Sulaiman Damanik, 26, pleaded guilty in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
court for sale of his kidney to Tangs
Tangs
Tangs is a company that specialises in the retail market, selling goods to customers. It is based in Singapore, and owns Singapore's oldest store which has become an icon of the Singapore retail market...
executive chair, Tang Wee Sung, 55, for 150 million rupiah (US $22,200). The Transplant Ethics Committee must approve living donor kidney transplants. Organ trading is banned in Singapore and in many other countries to prevent the exploitation of "poor and socially disadvantaged donors who are unable to make informed choices and suffer potential medical risks". Toni, 27, the other accused, donated a kidney to an Indonesian patient in March, alleging he was the patient's adopted son, and was paid 186 million rupiah (US $20,200). Upon sentence, both would suffer either 12 months in jail or a fine of 10,000 Singapore dollars (US $7,300).
In April 2010, six Israeli
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
s were charged with suspicion of running an international organ trafficking ring and breaking promises to donors to pay for their removed kidneys. According to police, one of the arrested suspects is a retired Israeli army general. The traffickers offered up to $100,000 per kidney, but in at least two cases didn't pay the donors after the organs were surgically removed, police said.
In November 2010, Israelis and South Africans were caught by the police for organ trafficking through Netcare.
In November and December 2010, Israelis and a Turkish national were reported to be involved in organ trafficking in Kosovo.
In April of 2011, a high school student in China's Anhui province, unbeknownst to his parents, sold his kidney for 20,000 yuan (US $3000 at the time) so he could purchase an iPad 2. The broker contacted him over the internet.
Debate
Martin Wilkinson, a visiting professor at Keele UniversityKeele University
Keele University is a campus university near Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as an experimental college dedicated to a broad curriculum and interdisciplinary study, Keele is most notable for pioneering the dual honours degree in Britain...
and former chairman of the New Zealand Bioethics Council, has said that "[s]elling an organ should no longer be a criminal offence", arguing that "[p]unishing people for trying to sell their organs [...] infringes on a right to decide what to do with one's own body." He says that while "[p]eople who are desperate lay themselves open to exploitation and deceit, and organ sellers are exploited and deceived in black markets now", he thinks that "the answer is to regulate the market, not to drive it underground."
The illegal status of organ trade creates a price ceiling
Price ceiling
A price ceiling is a government-imposed limit on the price charged for a product. Governments intend price ceilings to protect consumers from conditions that could make necessary commodities unattainable. However, a price ceiling can cause problems if imposed for a long period without controlled...
for organs at zero dollars. This price ceiling affects supply and demand creating a shortage.
According to a report published by the Cato Institute
Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane, who remains president and CEO, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the conglomerate Koch Industries, Inc., the largest privately held...
, a think tank, the elimination of the price ceiling would eliminate the shortage. It is estimated that in America, if 0.06% of individuals aged 18–65 donated a kidney the waiting list for organs would be fulfilled. Currently with little incentives to donate an organ approximately 6,000 people die yearly waiting for a transplant organ. It has been argued by David Holcberg that the regulation of organ trade could solve the organ shortage and create safer and fair practices for donors. However, the idea of organ "scarcity" had been opposed by Ivan Illich and other authors who argued that "scarcity" is an "artificially created need". There is not a real shortage of organs, but "excess and wasted" organs. Scarcity only exists for some groups of people—those who were denied the organs, and those who could not afford them. So what needs to be regulated, according to these authors, is organs procurement and distribution practices.
Legalization of human organ trading is opposed by a variety of human rights groups, including Organs Watch, a group established by medical anthropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes
Nancy Scheper-Hughes
Nancy Scheper-Hughes is a professor of Anthropology and director of the program in Medical Anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley. She is known for her writing on the anthropology of the body, hunger, illness, medicine, psychiatry, madness, social suffering, violence and genocide...
who was also instrumental in exposing illegal international organ selling rings.
See also
- Black market
- Gurgaon kidney scandalGurgaon kidney scandalThe multi-billion rupee Gurgaon kidney scandal came to light in January 2008 when police arrested several people for running a kidney transplant racket in Gurgaon, an industrial township near New Delhi, India...
- Organ donationOrgan donationOrgan donation is the donation of biological tissue or an organ of the human body, from a living or dead person to a living recipient in need of a transplantation. Transplantable organs and tissues are removed in a surgical procedure following a determination, based on the donor's medical and...
- Organ harvesting in the People's Republic of ChinaOrgan harvesting in the People's Republic of ChinaOrgan transplantation in the People's Republic of China has taken place since the 1960s, and is one of the largest organ transplant programmes in the world, peaking at over 13,000 transplants a year in 2004...
- Organ donation in IsraelOrgan donation in IsraelOrgan transplantation in Israel is regulated by two laws passed in 2008. The first law defines "brain death" as an indication of death for all legal purposes, including organ donation. A second law provides financial and other benefits to living donors and outlaws organ trafficking...
- Operation Bid RigOperation Bid RigOperation Bid Rig is an ongoing, long-term investigation into political corruption in New Jersey conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey since 2002...
- Fetus Farming Prohibition ActFetus Farming Prohibition ActThe Fetus Farming Prohibition Act of 2006 is an Act of the United States Congress that was sponsored by Senators Rick Santorum, Sam Brownback, Richard Burr and Jeff Sessions, and signed by President George W. Bush...
- Organ theft in Kosovo