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China arrests after kidney sold for iPad
iPads are as sought-after in China as in many other countries
Five people have been arrested in southern China after a teenager sold his kidney so he could buy an iPhone and iPad, state media have reported.
Those detained include the surgeon who removed the kidney from the boy in April last year.
State-run Xinhua news agency says the group received around $35,000 (£22,000) for the transplant.
The student is said to be suffering renal failure, according to prosecutors in Hunan province quoted by Xinhua.
Only identified by his surname Wang, he is said to have received about $3,000 for his kidney.
The 17-year-old was reportedly recruited for the illegal trade through an online chatroom.
Organ shortageThe case was discovered when his mother noticed the new gadgets; when asked where he got the money, he admitted selling a kidney.
The group behind the operation have been charged with causing intentional injury and illegal organ trading.
While Apple iPhones and iPads are very popular in China, they are priced beyond the reach of many urban workers.
And there is a constant shortage of organ donors.
Official figures from the health ministry show that about 1.5 million people need transplants, but only 10,000 are performed annually.
Executed prisoners have been often used as a source of organs, but last month China vowed to phase this out over the next five years.
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Comment number 71.
ginny2227th April 2012 - 11:50
i think it is very sad and not really funny at all. yes, he made a mistake, but no one was there for him to tell him he is precious as a human being and that all the material things in the world don't even come close to what he is worth.
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Comment number 44.
Domski7th April 2012 - 10:21
The point isn't what he bought, it's that someone persuaded him to sell one of his organs so cheaply. A decision that he may live to regret for however long the rest of his life may be.
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Comment number 41.
AWatson897th April 2012 - 10:13
Now now now people, what does Capitalism and materialism have to do with the kid's decision? He wouldn't know better. But if he was in a capitalist country with a good tax system, and therefore, school system, he is more likely to know better. The surgeon is more at fault here for not following an ethical code of practice like Western doctors, but the Chinese Gov are also at fault.
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Comment number 29.
Hugh Mann7th April 2012 - 9:42
Most of us behaved with a lack of foresight when we were young. What an awful consequence this young lad must live with. I feel for him and his parents. Those that recruited him are vultures and deserve a long prison term and to have all of their material assets stripped to nothing.
Sadly this is a reflection of people's desperation to achieve materially. Will this drive destroy our species?
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Comment number 26.
Clive7th April 2012 - 9:12
Not sure why you cannot sell your own body parts if you wish. The government does not have rights to my body. What also gets me is every one cries about lack of organs yet we have the ability to clone them and people cry about that to. Everyone wishes to live in the perfect world yet are not willing to pay to live in it. I say good for the guy if he wanted to sell his body parts he as the rights.
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