Focus

Business in human parts a lifeline or a profit center?

By Zhang Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-25 07:57

Suspect Zeng Kangkang is charged by Haidian procuratorate. WANG JING / CHINA DAILY

Liu Jiangshen is from a poor family in Sichuan province, and together with his father went to Guangdong as migrant workers to make money.

In 2007, Liu, then 24, was working in a toy factory in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong province, earning 1,000 yuan per month. His father was working in a garden in Shenzhen.

In July 2008, the older Liu was diagnosed with enteritis and urgently needed an operation - one that would cost 4,000 yuan.

The younger Liu didn't have the money and decided to sell his liver to raise the cash.

It took him until October, going through numerous online searches, to find a broker, surnamed Li from Korea.

At the end of 2008, after having various medical tests, his blood type was successfully matched with a patient. Liu was brought to the Beijing People's Hospital for the operation and offered 45,000 yuan for one of his livers.

Li helped forge all the necessary documents, and made him a "relative" of the recipient.

"I had only seen my male recipient, who was suffering from liver cancer, once. One week after the operation, I was discharged, " Liu told METRO at the Haidian detention house.

Since then, he hasn't had any contact with the agency or the patient, Liu said.

Liu said the operation affected him a lot. "Three to four months after the operation, I was in much pain. I didn't dare to take the deep breaths, and I even couldn't stand up straight," he said.

"My body is more feeble than beforeSuspect Zeng Kangkang is charged by Haidian procuratorate. WANG JING / China Daily."

At the beginning of this year, Liu joined the illegal donor network. Through the internet, he met Yang Shihai from Henan, who had also sold his liver on the black market for 50,000 yuan the previous year.

Liu undertook to find recipients from the Three-A General Hospitals in Beijing, and Yang looked for organ donors in Henan.

From March to May last year, they succeeded in helping two patients obtain illegal organs. But as a result of police investigation, they were detained in May last year, the first people to be arrested as part of a crackdown on human organ trafficking.

They are still awaiting trial.

Liu said he doesn't regret his actions. "I believed I was helping people, not harming others," he said

"There are many patients waiting for organ transplants each year, with only limited legitimate organ donors. If these agencies don't exist, many patients will die.

"We are also the victims. Many people thinks we ask for very high prices, but it's not true.

"For instance, when a recipient pays 150,000 yuan for an organ, I will get only about 10,000 yuan since most of the money will be used for the operation, medical treatment, food and lodgings, in addition to the donor's fee," he said.

Yang said he never realized he was committing a crime.

"All the donors volunteered and they were found by chatting on the Internet," he said.

"Most need money and my work was to take care of their daily life and arrange for them to match suitable recipients," he said.

Two more illegal organ cases are now in the courts in Beijing.

Last week, Zeng Kangkang and two brothers, surnamed Cai, were charged by Haidian procuratorate.

The Cai brothers will trial in Haidian district court on Tuesday

The trade in organs has triggered a debate on whether the practice helps those needing transplants, or simply gives a few people profits.

Qiu Zhiying, a prosecutor in the People's Procuratorate of Haidian district, said many people don't realize human organ trafficking is illegal.

"Since most trades are done via the Internet, police should crack down on this," she said.

Liu Changqiu, researcher from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said people are more likely to accept organ donations from those who recently died.

He recommended campaigns to urge people to sign up to donate their organs on their death.