More organ trading nightmares

The largest private hospital group in South Africa has
admitted to receiving 3.8 million rand (US$550,000) from an illegal organ
trafficking hub in a scam that included the removal of kidneys from five
children. In what is not the first
case of organ trafficking in South Africa, Romanians and Brazilians
were paid US$6000 for their kidneys to be transplanted to rich Israelis.

Netcare KwaZulu has pleaded guilty to 102 counts of illegal
operations between June 2001 and November 2003 at Durban’s regional court. The
group also admitted that some of the donors were “minors” although no details
of their ages or nationalities were presented.

The transplants were performed at Netcare St Augustine’s in
Durban. The kidneys were originally sourced from Israelis but Romanians and
Brazilians were later hired because their kidneys were cheaper. A charge sheet
said documents were forged to make it appear that donor and recipient were
family members, as required by South African law. Israeli suppliers were paid
$20,000 and Romanians and Brazilians $6,000. ~ Sydney
Morning Herald, Nov 12

Jared Yee
Israel
organ trafficking
South Africa

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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