Organ procurement

Organ theft is the practice of stealing people's organs via amateur surgery while they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or once the person is dead, when the organs can be illicitly removed and then used for further purposes such as transplants or sold on the black market. Most accounts of organ theft, however, are usually urban legends. There is no sufficient evidence so far to suggest that the practice is real.

On the other hand, it has been confirmed that the organs of a number of prisoners in China were taken for transplant after their executions (though ostensibly with their freely-given permission).

See also

• Organ transplant
• Organlegging
• Alder Hey organs scandal
• Human Tissue Authority

Bibliography

• Marie-Monique Robin, Voleurs d'yeux (1995 Albert Londres award)
• Joel Bast, How Claims Spread: Cross-National Diffusion of Social Problems, chapter: The Diffusion of Organ Theft Narratives
• Michael Parmly, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Hearing Before the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights Washington, DC June 27, 2001

External links

• BBC News - Sellafield organ removal inquiry 18/04/07
• The Epoch Times - New Witness Confirms Existence of Chinese Concentration Camp, Says Organs Removed from Live Victims
• CNN.com Law Center - UCLA suspends its Willed Body Program 09/03/04