WHAT WOULD MR. TOAST DO???
Increasing numbers of patients with liver cirrhosis or renal failure from regions including South East Asia, North America, Europe and Australia are flying to China for organ transplants. China has become the world's center for organ trade and transplants. But, what China may not be revealing to the world, is that the main source for organ transplants come from executed convicts.
According to the U.S.-based China Information Center, due to higher survival rates of liver and kidney transplants, China's hospitals are experiencing a boom in this business. As such, recently, there have been moves to expand facilities and make liver treatment and transplant more accessible to patients.
According to Laogai Research Foundation and the international media, the main source for organ transplants in China comes from executed convicts. Each year, there are at least several thousands of such cases. Last month, the CCP's Public Health Deputy Minister Huang Jiefu admitted for the first time that currently in China, the majority of the organs used in transplants come from executed convicts.
For a long time, the Chinese Communist regime had resorted to unethical means to remove organs from executed convicts and sell them to foreigners at high prices. Some of the organs belong to Falun Gong practitioners who have been persecuted to death. The acts of the Communist regime have raised serious concerns among the international community, including overseas medical establishments and human rights organizations.
Where Do the Organs Come From?
According to Chosun Ilbo , while it is extremely difficult to secure the organs of brain-dead persons in Korea, it is not the case in Tianjin. Dr. Zheng Hong, Head of Transplant Surgery in Tianjin First Central Hospital said, "The organs are contributed to the hospital by brain-dead cases across China."
However, there is evidence to show that the brain-dead organ donors, many belong to the executed convicts. Before the operation can be performed, the respective courts will assess the degree of compatibility of the donor's organ. Majority of the donors are between the ages of 20-30. On the death certificate the reason given for the death is "acute brain damage."
Regarding this point, the medical team would not admit nor make any denial; rather they were evasive in their response. The hospital indicated that in cases of brain dead persons, family members must consent to the donation. The trading of organs is strictly prohibited, and all donations are carried out within legal boundaries.
Medical personnel, as quoted by the U.S.-based China Information Center, reveal that the practice of transplanting kidney and liver organs of executed convicts to patients has been in existence for a long time and it is no secret in hospitals. Although China's law prohibits the removal of organs from executed convicts, hospitals can still get permission from the local judicial department to remove the organs.
According to Tsingtao Daily, Deputy Minister of Public Health of China, Huang Jiefu, openly admitted last month that most of the transplanted organs in China were extracted from the executed prisoners. He promised to tighten related regulations. This was the first time ever that the Communist authorities admitted that executed prisoners' organs were sold to foreigners for transplant purposes. The report stated that only less than 5 percent of the transplanted organs in China came from living human beings; while more than 95 percent came from executed prisoners.
If you needed a transplant would you go to China to have it done faster and cheaper even though the organs come from executed prisoners? If it was going to save my life I would really thing about doing it.
According to the U.S.-based China Information Center, due to higher survival rates of liver and kidney transplants, China's hospitals are experiencing a boom in this business. As such, recently, there have been moves to expand facilities and make liver treatment and transplant more accessible to patients.
According to Laogai Research Foundation and the international media, the main source for organ transplants in China comes from executed convicts. Each year, there are at least several thousands of such cases. Last month, the CCP's Public Health Deputy Minister Huang Jiefu admitted for the first time that currently in China, the majority of the organs used in transplants come from executed convicts.
For a long time, the Chinese Communist regime had resorted to unethical means to remove organs from executed convicts and sell them to foreigners at high prices. Some of the organs belong to Falun Gong practitioners who have been persecuted to death. The acts of the Communist regime have raised serious concerns among the international community, including overseas medical establishments and human rights organizations.
Where Do the Organs Come From?
According to Chosun Ilbo , while it is extremely difficult to secure the organs of brain-dead persons in Korea, it is not the case in Tianjin. Dr. Zheng Hong, Head of Transplant Surgery in Tianjin First Central Hospital said, "The organs are contributed to the hospital by brain-dead cases across China."
However, there is evidence to show that the brain-dead organ donors, many belong to the executed convicts. Before the operation can be performed, the respective courts will assess the degree of compatibility of the donor's organ. Majority of the donors are between the ages of 20-30. On the death certificate the reason given for the death is "acute brain damage."
Regarding this point, the medical team would not admit nor make any denial; rather they were evasive in their response. The hospital indicated that in cases of brain dead persons, family members must consent to the donation. The trading of organs is strictly prohibited, and all donations are carried out within legal boundaries.
Medical personnel, as quoted by the U.S.-based China Information Center, reveal that the practice of transplanting kidney and liver organs of executed convicts to patients has been in existence for a long time and it is no secret in hospitals. Although China's law prohibits the removal of organs from executed convicts, hospitals can still get permission from the local judicial department to remove the organs.
According to Tsingtao Daily, Deputy Minister of Public Health of China, Huang Jiefu, openly admitted last month that most of the transplanted organs in China were extracted from the executed prisoners. He promised to tighten related regulations. This was the first time ever that the Communist authorities admitted that executed prisoners' organs were sold to foreigners for transplant purposes. The report stated that only less than 5 percent of the transplanted organs in China came from living human beings; while more than 95 percent came from executed prisoners.
If you needed a transplant would you go to China to have it done faster and cheaper even though the organs come from executed prisoners? If it was going to save my life I would really thing about doing it.
posted by Janelle @ 11:30 PM
2 Comments:
At June 20, 2006 at 4:38 PM,
BoneDaddy said…
That is a small world!(from two posts down). I don't remember anything about him not being able to work or anything, so I wasn't on bad terms with him or anything, but when we were all at your wedding, I didn't work at Travelodge. That came about 3 years later.
At June 29, 2006 at 12:23 PM,
Mr. Toast said…
What would I do? Wow, tough call. Fortunately, I have qualified for my lung transplant under our current medical system, and have the insurance to pay for it, so it's not a decision I have to make.
I think there's two issues to look at; first is the ethical treatment of prisoners under the Chinese regime. China has long been criticized -- justifiably -- by the rest of the world for its flagrant abuse of human rights, and the execution of political prisoners (Falun Gong members in particular) is the most flagrant example of this. As much as we in the West may not like it, there's not a lot we can do to change it.
But putting that aside for the moment, the other issue is the fact that there is a worldwide shortage of donor organs, and that lives can be (and are in fact) saved by the practice of harvesting organs from convicts that would otherwise go to waste. Of course, you can argue that by creating a demand for such organs, you actually encourage possible abuse by the government-controlled Chinese medical community. Like I said, it's a tough call.
There is one thing for sure: the desire to live is strong, and some people who are faced with certain death from a diseased organ and have no other options might be willing to accept any chance of life, even if it comes in the form of a questionable donor. I honestly don't think it's something I'd consider personally, but until medical science becomes sufficiently advanced to make transplants unnecessary, there will always be black -- or grey -- markets in human tissue. See the movie "The Island" for a look at a fictional future society that takes this concept to the extreme.
It's a scary subject, any way you look at it.
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