(Up To Date, In Recent 3 years)
By Alex Chen
Lancet. 2011 Oct 1;378(9798):1218. doi:
10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61536-5.
Time for a boycott of
Chinese science and medicine pertaining to organ transplantation.
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Am J Transplant. 2011 Mar;11(3):426-8. doi:
10.1111/j.1600-6143.2010.03417.x.
The use of executed
prisoners as a source of organ transplants in China must
stop.
Abstract
Internationally accepted
ethical standards are unequivocal in their prohibition of the use of organs
recovered from executed prisoners: yet this practice continues
in China despite indications that Ministry of Health officials
intend to end this abhorrent practice. Recently published articles on this
topic emphasize the medical complications that result from
liver transplantation from executed 'donors' but scant attention is
given to the source of the organs, raising concern that the transplant community
may be becoming inured to unacceptable practice. Strategies to influence
positive change inorgan donation practice in China by the
international transplant community are discussed. They include an absolutist
policy whereby no clinical data from China is deemed acceptable
until unacceptable donation practices end, and an incremental policy whereby
clinical data is carefully evaluated for acceptability. The relative
advantages and drawbacks of these strategies are discussed together with some
practical suggestions for response available to individuals and the
transplant community.
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J Heart Lung Transplant. 2012 Dec;31(12):1321. doi:
10.1016/j.healun.2012.09.014. Epub 2012 Oct 10.
Regulation of
lung transplantation in China.
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Croat Med J. 2013 Feb;54(1):71-4.
Transplant ethics under scrutiny - responsibilities of
all medical professionals.
Abstract
In this text, we present
and elaborate ethical challenges in transplant medicine related to
organ procurement and organ distribution, together with measures to solve
such challenges. Based on internationally acknowledged ethical standards, we
looked at cases of organ procurement and distribution practices that deviated
from such ethical standards. One form of organ procurement is known as
commercial organ trafficking, while in China the organ procurement is mostly
based on executing prisoners, including killing of detained Falun Gong
practitioners for their organs. Efforts from within
the medical community as well as from governments have contributed
to provide solutions to uphold ethical standards in medicine.
Themedical profession has the responsibility to actively promote ethical
guidelines in medicine to prevent a decay of ethical standards and to ensure
bestmedical practices.
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Transplantation. 2013 Jun 15;95(11):1306-12. doi:
10.1097/TP.0b013e318295ee7d.
Organ trafficking
and transplant tourism: the role of global professional ethical standards-the
2008 Declaration of Istanbul.
Danovitch GM, Chapman J, Capron AM, Levin A, Abbud-Filho
M, Al Mousawi M, Bennett W, Budiani-Saberi
D, Couser
W, Dittmer I, Jha
V, Lavee
J, Martin D, Masri
M, Naicker
S, Takahara
S, Tibell
A, Shaheen
F, Anantharaman
V, Delmonico FL.
Abstract
By 2005,
human organ trafficking, commercialization, and transplant tourism
had become a prominent and pervasive influence
on transplantationtherapy. The most common source of organs was
impoverished people in India, Pakistan, Egypt, and the Philippines,
deceased organ donors in Colombia, and executed prisoners in China.
In response, in May 2008, The Transplantation Society and the
International Society of Nephrology developed the Declaration of Istanbul
on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism consisting of a
preamble, a set of principles, and a series of proposals. Promulgation of the
Declaration of Istanbul and the formation of the Declaration of Istanbul Custodian
Group to promote and uphold its principles have demonstrated that concerted,
strategic, collaborative, and persistent actions by professionals can deliver
tangible changes. Over the past 5 years, the Declaration of Istanbul
Custodian Group organized and encouraged cooperation among professional
bodies and relevant international, regional, and national governmental
organizations, which has produced significant progress in
combating organ trafficking and transplant tourism around the
world. At a fifth anniversary meeting in Qatar in April 2013, the DICG took
note of this progress and set forth in a Communiqué a number of specific
activities and resolved to further engage groups from many sectors in working
toward the Declaration's objectives.
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Med
Health Care Philos. 2013
Feb 20. [Epub ahead of print]
The declaration of
Istanbul in the Philippines: success with foreigners but a continuing challenge
for local transplant tourism.
Abstract
The Philippine government
officially responded to the Declaration of Istanbul
on Organ Trafficking and the related WHO Guidelines on organ
transplantation by prohibiting all transplants to foreigners using
Filipino organs. However, local tourists have escaped the regulatory radar,
leaving a very wide gap in efforts against human trafficking and transplant tourism.
Authorities need to deal with the situation seriously, at a minimum, by
issuing clear procedures for verifying declarations of kinship or emotional
bonds between donors and recipients. Foreigners who come to the country for
transplants with same-nationality donors constitute a problem that is
replicated in many transplant centers around the world. Also, emotionally
related living donors continue to pose challenges
for ethics committees, especially because of the realities
associated with the existence of extended families. Those who find themselves
facing these issues need to be armed with clear protocols for going through
the process of verifying documents and individual declarations assiduously.
There is also a need for international referral mechanisms at least to ensure
that governments are aware when their citizens travel for transplant so they
can take steps they consider suitable to address the vulnerabilities of
exploited persons.
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Virtual
Mentor. 2012
Mar 1;14(3):264-8. doi: 10.1001/virtualmentor.2012.14.3.mhst1-1203.
The ethics of organ
transplantation: a brief history.
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J Heart Lung Transplant. 2012 Jun;31(6):555-6. doi:
10.1016/j.healun.2012.03.003. Epub 2012 Apr 6.
A call for a policy
change regarding publications based on transplantation of organs
from executed prisoners.
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Nat Rev
Nephrol. 2012
Mar 20;8(6):358-61. doi: 10.1038/nrneph.2012.59.
The Declaration of
Istanbul--early impact and future potential.
Abstract
The Declaration of Istanbul
on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism was adopted at an
international meeting held in 2008. The Declaration has been published
globally and consists of a preamble, a set of principles and a series of
proposals to improve the ethics and expand the benefits of the
international organ transplantation endeavor. To promote and
monitor the implementation of the Declaration, a Declaration of Istanbul
Custodian Group (DICG) has been created. The DICG has provided support for
official efforts to ban the sale of organs, restrict transplant tourism and
prosecute those who persist in violating the law. Substantial progress has
been made thus far in countries that have been the source of transplant
tourists and in countries that have been the source of donor organs for
trafficking. In China, however, the use of organs from executed
prisoners for transplantationpurposes continues despite widespread
condemnation of this practice.
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J
Clin Invest. 2012
Jan 3;122(1):2. doi: 10.1172/JCI61904. Epub 2012 Jan 3.
Editorial position on
publishing articles on human organ transplantation.
Abstract
The practice of
transplanting organs from executed prisoners in China appears to be
widespread. We vigorously condemn this practice and, effective immediately,
will not consider manuscripts on human organ transplantation for
publication unless appropriate non-coerced consent of the donor is provided
and substantiated.
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Camb Q Healthc Ethics. 2011 Jan;20(1):143. doi:
10.1017/S096318011000071X.
The case of the criminal
liver.
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