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China's rules on organ sales incomplete(UPI Top Stories Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)China has drafted rules on human organ transplants and the sale of body parts, but a leading surgeon said several ethical issues remain unresolved. China carries out 7,000 to 8,000 kidney transplants yearly, with 99 percent of the organs coming from executed prisoners, the South China Morning Post reported Tuesday. Less than 1 percent come from patients' relatives or other donors. Under the Ministry of Health's new rules, which take effect July 1, transplants must meet legal, medical and ethical standards before they can proceed. But Chen Zhonghua of Tongji Hospital, China's most advanced transplant hospital, said the rules failed to address three key issues -- the source of organs, the administration of organ donation, and the definition of brain dead in cases of terminally ill patients. Chen, who helped draft the rules, said they only offered direction on contributions from live donors -- a tiny proportion of the transplants. Chen also said growth in transplant demand had led to a messy web of money and corruption between police, the courts and hospitals. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] |