Five persons alleged to have been involved in illegal organ trading were indicted in Central China following a teenager’s sale of one of his kidneys to get an iPhone and an iPad.
It has however brought to fore the negative impact increasing consumerism is having in the Asian country as concerns kept pouring that enough is not done to guard against such acts as the new generation choose materials over their personal health.
The 17 year old high school student named Wang had the five suspects organize the removal and transplant of his kidney done in the city of Changzhou as Chinese officials confirmed that the suspects were charged and prosecutors in the Changzhou Beihu District People’s Procuratorate were handling the case in Hunan Province and the suspects will be facing a charge of intentional injury
A surgeon, hospital contractor and brokers who are online searchers for kidney donors and also lease operating rooms for the completion of the procedure were the suspects and defendants to the case.
The illegal trade was fuelled by the rate of people in need of a transplant as statistics show that Chinese people needing organ transplants is on the high up to about 1.5 million people and in one year 10,000 transplants are performed.
One of the suspects named Wei said he went into the illegal organ trade because he was broke and owing gambling debts and he liaised with a friend who is also a suspect to get organ donors online and operating room which can lease for the transplant.
Wei said he received 220,000 Yuan ($35,000) for the transplant, gave the student 22,000 Yuan ($3,500) and shared the remaining money with the other defendants and several medical staff involved in the operation which took place April 2011.
After the transplant Wang returned and asked by his mother where he got the money to buy himself the iPhone and iPad, he confessed to the mother that he sold one of his kidneys.
It’s been norm in China as individual consider it as an option of getting out of debt being owed, buying of top-range gadgets among other reasons, a Chinese newspaper reports.
