Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

7 Jailed In 'Kidney For iPad' Case In China

Posted by timothy on from the let's-ask-tyler-cowen dept.

hackingbear writes "In China, the whole team of medical staff and their brokers were sentenced to jail yesterday over their involvement in the case of a teenager who sold a kidney to buy an iPhone and iPad. He Wei, who organized the illegal transaction in April 2011, was sentenced to five years' imprisonment by the Beihu District People's Court in Chenzhou City. The court added that the defendants had paid compensation worth more than 1.47 million yuan (~ US $237,000) to Wang. Ministry of Health statistics show that about 1.5 million people in China need transplants, but only 10,000 operations are performed each year."

5 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. Always wondered... by flimflammer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What is the reasoning behind it being illegal to sell your non-vital organs? Is it to prevent people from being coerced into it under the guise of a legitimate transaction? Some weird pseudo prostitution thing about "selling your body"? Purely moral taboo?

    Always wondered why this was the case. You'd think if this venue was opened up, there would be more organs going where they are needed without requiring the donor first have a nasty case of death.

    1. Re:Always wondered... by Stickerboy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What is the reasoning behind it being illegal to sell your non-vital organs? Is it to prevent people from being coerced into it under the guise of a legitimate transaction? Some weird pseudo prostitution thing about "selling your body"? Purely moral taboo?

      Always wondered why this was the case. You'd think if this venue was opened up, there would be more organs going where they are needed without requiring the donor first have a nasty case of death.

      First: kidneys are vital organs. Just because the human body has a built-in redundancy does not make it any less necessary to live. Some people, depending on their preexisting health, won't be able to tolerate the removal of a kidney either without taking a significant hit to their kidney function.

      Second: opening the marketplace for donor human organs to profit motives is a bad idea all around. But, if you can solve the human conditions of corruption, avarice and socioeconomic inequality than yes, it might be workable.

      By the time a workable profiteering model for selling organs is adopted, we'll be growing MHC-matched replacement organs in the lab.

      --
      Light a fire for a man and he'll be warm for a day. Light a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
    2. Re:Always wondered... by artor3 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because it's an incredibly foolish thing to do, and anyone entering into such a deal is being exploited. And unlike some cases of exploitation, such as payday loans, there's no going back on this one. This kid was just seventeen, and he was tricked into a transaction that will negatively impact him for the rest of his life. It's akin to selling highly addictive drugs. You can talk about free markets and rational self-interest all you want, but in the real world, people make mistakes. We should protect each other from making mistakes that one can never recover from.

  2. Re:/., the Enquirer For Geeks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    who modded this up? it's late at night here in the us where slashdot editors live. sure, this isn't exactly the most exciting story in the world, but it's an interesting read and is related to technology in the sense that it portrays the lengths some people will go to to get their hands on hot tech products.

    isn't this something slashdotters love to mock? down with consumerism and all that (while they themselves are buying gadgets faster than ever, of course ...)? i would think this'd be exactly the sort of story slashdotters would love.

  3. Re:Aha by TFAFalcon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A prostitute just rents her body, she doesn't sell it.