On Patients Who Purchase Organ Transplants Abroad

Abstract

The international transplant community portrays organ trade as a growing and serious crime involving large numbers of traveling patients who purchase organs. We present a systematic review about the published number of patients who purchased organs. With this information, we discuss whether the scientific literature reflects a substantial practice of organ purchase. Between 2000 and 2015, 86 studies were published. Seventy-six of these presented patients who traveled and 42 stated that the transplants were commercial. Only 11 studies reported that patients paid, and eight described to what or whom patients paid. In total, during a period of 42 years, 6002 patients have been reported to travel for transplantation. Of these, only 1238 were reported to have paid for their transplants. An additional unknown number of patients paid for their transplants in their native countries. We conclude that the scientific literature does not reflect a large number of patients buying organs. Organ purchases were more often assumed than determined. A reporting code for transplant professionals to report organ trafficking networks is a potential strategy to collect and quantify cases.

Evaluation and care of international living kidney donor candidates: Strategies for addressing common considerations and challenges

“…Special emphasis should be given to family systems and dynamics, and assessment for the presence of coercion, undue pressure, or financial motivation . Socioeconomic stability should be assessed, including review of donor candidate's lifestyle and occupation, and confirmation of gainful employment and/or financial support from family.…”

“…Generally, international donors are family members or friends of patients with ESKD who visit the United States to serve as living kidney donors. Whereas some countries prohibit international donors due to concerns for organ trafficking or transplant commercialism, the United States has no such prohibition . A recent study of US Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) registry data found that international living kidney donors were tightly clustered among a small number of transplant centers .…”

“…Whereas some countries prohibit international donors due to concerns for organ trafficking or transplant commercialism, the United States has no such prohibition. 12,13 A recent study of US Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) registry data found that international living kidney donors were tightly clustered among a small number of transplant centers. 11 Resources for helping transplant programs understand and address challenges to assessment and care of international donor candidates may improve consideration of international donors for US kidney patients, but to date, the nature of these challenges, and strategies to address them, has not been well described.…”

Comment on the Article “On Patients Who Purchase Organ Transplants Abroad”

“…Ambagtsheer et al (1) noted that South Korea is one of the two "most commonly reported departure countries" for TT, and this may create the false impression that South Korea is a major source of transplant tourists. The paper demonstrates the problems with drawing conclusions about TT activities from reviews of the peerreviewed literature.…”

“…Second, the increased availability of data concerning TT from particular countries may simply reflect efforts taken in those countries to address the problem of TT through research and reporting. The Korean data reported by Ambagtsheer et al (1), for example, included a large number of liver transplantation (LT) cases, whereas the data from most other countries included only KT cases. In comparison with KT, reports of LT abroad in the primary literature are scarce, perhaps reflecting the common perception that TT is largely a concern of persons working in the field of KT.…”