Organs for profit

Organs for profit

Global trade in human suffering

By DON PEAT, SUN MEDIA
Tue, February 5, 2008

The global trade in illegal organs is one of pain, suffering and poverty, luring "donors" with the promise of easy money and leaving them slashed without a kidney -- alive, if they're lucky.

Mofiz, a 20-something rickshaw driver in Bangladesh, was one of 33 organ sellers interviewed by University of Toronto PhD student Monir Moniruzzaman in his study of the buyer-driven organ market in India, where most of the surgeries took place.

India's rough and quiet trade in illegal kidney transplants has gained international attention with Indian police cracking an illegal organ-harvesting ring last month that often forced people at gunpoint to give up their kidneys.

An ensuing global manhunt for Dr. Amit Kumar, the man Indian media have dubbed the "Kidney Kingpin" and "Dr. Horror," is exposing just the tip of the iceberg of the global networks of doctors, nurses and government officials that prey on the poor for their organs, Moniruzzaman said.

'SNATCHING BODIES'

"(Kumar) is not the only one," Moniruzzaman said. "This case reveals how doctors are involved. It shows how bad and corrupt the system is."

He stressed people like Mofiz aren't better off after the sale.

"It's not the generalized western ideal of poor people selling their organs," he said. "It's like snatching bodies from other human beings."

Mofiz met his organ broker on the streets of Dhaka as he pulled him in his rickshaw. Mofiz was told about the low-risk surgery he would undergo in India and the cash, the equivalent to about $1,500, he would get in exchange.

Like a good broker, the man emphasized how harmless the surgery would be and how the money -- a fortune to a poor rickshaw driver in a country where 80% make $2 a day -- could be used to start a business and a new life.

The broker never mentioned it could cost the poor Bangladeshi his own life. He also didn't mention the fact that he charges clinics a finder's fee of up to $10,000, or that rich locals pay up to $12,000 for the process while foreigners pay as much as $50,000.

"Everything on paper is perfect," Moniruzzaman said.

There are other costs, including bribing officials, creating fake documents stating the donor and recipient are related, and some -- but not all -- of the post-op medication for the donor is covered.

"Profit is the main concern," he said.

The brokers target young people like Mofiz with the belief "younger kidneys are fresher than older kidneys."

After the surgery Mofiz returned to Bangladesh and, like 30 of the organ donors Moniruzzaman interviewed, he squandered the money.

When he tried to go back to work, he realized how much weaker he was without one of his kidneys.

"He couldn't pull the rickshaw," Moniruzzaman said. "Now he's in more poverty.

"These people are brutally exploited."

He found most of the donors were paid poorly, if paid at all.

After the surgery they live in shame of having sold their body parts and being unable to afford the followup medical treatment.

They also live with a 50-cm scar stretching down across their back to the front of their stomach. Had the broker paid doctors $200 more for a different procedure, the donor would have only had an 8-cm scar, Moniruzzaman said.

"You suffer physically, socially, economically and psychologically," he said. "You are a living cadaver. Your body is lighter -- but your heart is heavier."

A good health-care system with well-trained medical personnel has turned India into the regional capital of illegal organ transplants where wealthy locals and foreigners come to buy organs.

And that includes Canadians, Moniruzzaman said.

"It's underground, it's impossible to know how many Canadians are doing it."

Moniruzzaman's research uncovered an ad in a Bangladeshi newspaper in November 2004 from an Ottawa man.

"Two kidneys are damaged. Currently he is under health care in a hospital in Canada. If a nice-hearted man could donate a kidney please contact at the following address. His blood group is B+ and tissue typing = A2, B-52, 60," it read. "All kinds of support will be given to interested persons."

The mindset of buyers is why take be on the waiting list for a transplant when you can simply buy an organ, Moniruzzaman said.

http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2008/02/05/4827807-sun.html