组织出卖人体器官，英文版， EP12: Selling Kidneys in China
The Shadow Society in China: A Glimpse Through Criminal Judgments EP12: Selling Kidneys in China
This report is based on 25 criminal judgments about selling kidneys in China.
In a legal kidney transplantation, a person donates his kidney is called donor, and a person receives the kidney is named recipient.
In this report, all kidney transplantations are illegal, so I use kidney provider and receiver respectively to emphasize the difference.
In The Shadow Society in China: A Glimpse Through Criminal Judgments (Chinese name: 刑事判决书里的中国), I usually show a typical case to let audiences get the basic idea at first, and then more details are added based on other criminal judgments.
Notice there are many people showed in this report. AA, BB, …, LL, etc. are used to refer to different person. I know it is strange, but I don’t find a better solution.
Case One
In 2012, someone (AA) lose money because of gambling. He planned to sell his kidney. He met a guy (BB) on the internet. The guy (BB) told him (AA) that building an illegal kidney transplantation operation room is better than selling his own kidney.
Then he (AA) rent a house, and bought some necessary medical devices and medicine. An illegal kidney transplantation operation room was done.
BB introduced an attending physician (CC) from a renowned hospital for the illegal operation room. So, the attending physician (CC) worked there as a parttime employee.
AA told the court that the money for building the operation room is from the attending physician (CC), but CC denied it.
BB also introduced an anesthetist (DD). The anesthetist (DD) brought some assistants and nurses for illegal kidney transplantation.
The price of a kidney in black market is between CNY 30,000 ($ 4568) and CNY 60,000 ($ 9136). A recipient needs to pay between CNY 300,000 ($ 45，680) and CNY 700,000 ($ 106，595) for a illegal kidney transplantation. The price varies in time and cities.
In this case, BB earnt CNY 20,000 ($ 3045) for each transplantation, because he introduced two keyman: the attending physician (CC) and the anesthetist (DD).
The attending physician (CC) earnt CNY 80,000 ($ 12,182) for each transplantation. The anesthetist (DD) and the team he brought earnt CNY 60,000 ($ 9136) together.
An illegal operation room needs kidney providers and receivers.
When a kidney provider writes a selling-kidney post on a forum, a kidney provider agent will contact him. After negotiating the price, the agent will bring the kidney provider to a hospital to do some medical examinations. When the agent gets the examination report, he will contact another agent who knows kidney receivers.
If there is a good match, the kidney provider and receiver, with eyes covered, will be brought to an illegal kidney transplantation operation room by car.
If the match fails, the kidney provider will go home and wait for further notice.
In this case, others made everything ready in the operation room, waiting for the attending physician (CC). When the attending physician (CC) arrived in the city by plane or high-speed rail, a car is waiting in the station to bring him to the operation room.
There is no punishment for kidney providers and receivers in 25 criminal judgments. Only people offering Illegal kidney transplantation service, such as doctors, agents, drivers etc., got punished.
In this case, 5 kidney providers are guilty. 4 of them sold their kidneys, and then got involved into illegal transplantation business.
The last one failed to sell his kidney, because the attending physician (CC) thought the operation is risky for him based on his kidney situation. He didn’t sell his kidney, but became an agent recruiting kidney providers. He earnt CNY 10,000 ($ 1522) for each transplantation.
Case Two
In the first case, they turned a house into an operation room. In this case, someone tried to rent an operation room in a hospital but failed.
An enterprise juristic person of a hospital told the court, in 2018, a man (EE) told him that he would like to rent an operation room from the hospital for small operations, such as: circumcision and hemorrhoidectomy. He agreed.
A few days later, the man (EE) told the enterprise juristic person that he rent the operation room not for small operations, but for kidney transplantation. He would pay between CNY 50,000 ($ 7613) and 100,000 ($ 15,228) for each transplantation.
The enterprise juristic person refused and said the hospital is not good enough for a kidney transplantation.
the man (EE) failed this time, but his team managed a kidney transplantation later. Unfortunately, the kidney provider (FF) called the police after the operation.
In 2018, on the internet, an EE’s team member asked if the kidney provider (FF) would like to sell his kidney for CNY 55,000 ($ 8375). At that moment the kidney provider (FF) felt that life was meaningless. He agreed.
After some medical examinations, the kidney provider (FF)’s eyes were covered, and he was brought into a car.
When FF removed his eye band, he was in a room, six persons standing, two in doctor uniform. some medicines in a conner. He was told that the operation will be done in a large hospital before. He wanted to leave but was too scared to do so.
After enema, he was anesthetized. When he woke up, he felt pain in his belly and knew his kidney was removed.
5 days later, when it was dark outside, EE’s team member told the kidney provider (FF) that CNY 55000 ($ 8375) cash was in his bag, and they would send him back by car now.
The kidney provider (FF)’s eyes were covered again. After one hour driving, they let the kidney provider (FF) get off the car, and told him DO NOT LOOK BACK!
When the kidney provider (FF) got home, he called the police.
Case Three
In the second case, the kidney provider called the police. In this case, a kidney provider’s family called the police.
In 2016, a debtor (GG) was pushed too hard by a creditor. He decided to sell his kidney. He was paid by CNY 45,000 ($ 6852). When he got home, his family found it out and called the police.
Case Four
In the last two cases, the kidney provider received the payment. The provider in this case didn’t get the payment until he called the police.
In 2015, A team removed a kidney provider (HH)’s kidney. The day after the operation, the kidney provider (HH) was told that he can’t get the payment because of the bad body situation of the kidney receiver. So, the kidney provider (HH) ran out and asked a stranger to call the police. He received CNY 50,000 ($ 7613) later.
Case Five
In the first case, there was a kidney provider failed to sell his kidney. In this case, a kidney provider regretted and refused to sell his kidney.
In 2018, a kidney provider finished all price negotiation and medical examinations, and was scheduled for a kidney transplantation. He googled “If a man has only one kidney, what will it be?”, and found out there are great bad influence for a normal life. He thought a lot, and decided not to sell his kidney.
Case Six
A kidney provider may regret his decision. A kidney provider agent could reduce such a business risk by recruiting more providers.
In 2012, the police caught a kidney provider agent. At that moment, over 20 kidney providers were organized and waiting for match results.
Case Seven
For kidney receiver, it is much easier to find.
In 2010, a chief physician (JJ) in urology department of a hospital was asked by many uremia patients for kidney transplantation. He (JJ) had a team for searching kidney providers.
He (JJ) rent an operation room from another hospital for illegal kidney transplantation. When the hospital refused to rent the operation room later, he (JJ) built his own operation room in a house.
Case Eight
In 2019, someone (KK) rent an operation room and wards from a hospital. He also provided anesthetist and assistants. He earnt CNY 95,000 ($ 14,466) for each illegal kidney transplantation.
KK’s partner (LL) was responsible other resources. LL hired a physician for removing a kidney from a provider and placing it into a receiver’s body. But the physician was too expensive and traffic was inconvenient. So, LL hired two physicians: one for kidney removal, the other for kidney placement.
When the physician for kidney placement went into the operation room, everything is ready: a kidney receiver was anesthetized, kidney was in a blue box. He earnt CNY 130,000 ($ 19796) for each transplantation.
Case Nine
In many cases, kidney providers became workers in illegal kidney transplantation business. In this case, it is a kidney receiver.
In 2014, a man had uremia. He rent a house, and bought operating table, anesthesia machine, shadowless lamp etc. He built a kidney transplantation operation room.
Before anyone got an operation in the operation room, he got caught by the police.
He argued that the operation room was only for himself, but the police found medical examination report for others.
Case Ten
In 25 judgments, doctors were honest when got caught, except an anesthetist.
In 2017, an anesthetist joined two illegal kidney transplantation. When he got arrested, he argued the first time he thought it was for appendix removal, the second time he knew it was kidney transplantation. Because of his close relation to others, it is an offer he can’t refuse. So, it was a kind of duress.
Case 11
In 2018, two kidney provider and receiver pairs got caught while doing medical examinations in Beijing. One kidney receiver said it takes 3 months and CNY 250,000 ($ 38,069) for a legal kidney transplantation in his hometown, but in Beijing, it takes one month and CNY 600,000 ($ 91,367) for a illegal one.
Case 12
Usually, a kidney was removed and placed in the same illegal operation room, except the following one.
In 2018, a kidney was removed in an illegal operation room in Hebei province, and then was sent to a hospital in Beijing for kidney transplantation.
Case 13
There are good reasons to place a kidney in a normal hospital.
In 2015, a kidney receiver paid CNY 500,000 ($ 76,139) for illegal kidney transplantation. After the operation, he was sent to a hospital. A physician found his transplanted kidney was not working. He was sent to another hospital to remove the kidney which turned black.
He got a refund of CNY50,000 ($ 7614).
Case 14
In 2015, three doctors found an illegal operation room was in poor condition, and not suitable for kidney transplantation. They were reluctant to do it. An organizer immediately gave CNY 5000 ($ 761) to a doctor immediately.
The kidney transplantation was finished but failed. The kidney was removed later, and the kidney receiver died at the end of the year.
The kidney receiver paid CNY 460,000 ($ 70,048), and got a refund of 410,000 ($ 62,434). The kidney provider kept CNY 40,000 ($ 6091).
Case 15
In 2015, a deal of an illegal kidney transplant was settled in Beijing. Then a kidney was removed successfully in Shandong province. But the kidney receiver died from pulmonary edema during the operation.
The kidney receiver’s family got a full refund of CNY 420,000 ($ 63,957).
I don’t know whether the kidney was placed back into the kidney provider’s body or not.
There are 12 episodes in The Shadow Society in China: A Glimpse Through Criminal Judgments (Chinese name: 刑事判决书里的中国) on my YouTube channel. This is the 12[sup]th[/sup] episode.
I have posted the 3[sup]rd[/sup] episode: watch brand for bribery in China.
If you like it, I will translate other episodes into English too.
I would love to hear feedbacks from you.
Thanks for watching.
This report is based on 25 criminal judgments about selling kidneys in China.
In a legal kidney transplantation, a person donates his kidney is called donor, and a person receives the kidney is named recipient.
In this report, all kidney transplantations are illegal, so I use kidney provider and receiver respectively to emphasize the difference.
In The Shadow Society in China: A Glimpse Through Criminal Judgments (Chinese name: 刑事判决书里的中国), I usually show a typical case to let audiences get the basic idea at first, and then more details are added based on other criminal judgments.
Notice there are many people showed in this report. AA, BB, …, LL, etc. are used to refer to different person. I know it is strange, but I don’t find a better solution.
Case One
In 2012, someone (AA) lose money because of gambling. He planned to sell his kidney. He met a guy (BB) on the internet. The guy (BB) told him (AA) that building an illegal kidney transplantation operation room is better than selling his own kidney.
Then he (AA) rent a house, and bought some necessary medical devices and medicine. An illegal kidney transplantation operation room was done.
BB introduced an attending physician (CC) from a renowned hospital for the illegal operation room. So, the attending physician (CC) worked there as a parttime employee.
AA told the court that the money for building the operation room is from the attending physician (CC), but CC denied it.
BB also introduced an anesthetist (DD). The anesthetist (DD) brought some assistants and nurses for illegal kidney transplantation.
The price of a kidney in black market is between CNY 30,000 ($ 4568) and CNY 60,000 ($ 9136). A recipient needs to pay between CNY 300,000 ($ 45，680) and CNY 700,000 ($ 106，595) for a illegal kidney transplantation. The price varies in time and cities.
In this case, BB earnt CNY 20,000 ($ 3045) for each transplantation, because he introduced two keyman: the attending physician (CC) and the anesthetist (DD).
The attending physician (CC) earnt CNY 80,000 ($ 12,182) for each transplantation. The anesthetist (DD) and the team he brought earnt CNY 60,000 ($ 9136) together.
An illegal operation room needs kidney providers and receivers.
When a kidney provider writes a selling-kidney post on a forum, a kidney provider agent will contact him. After negotiating the price, the agent will bring the kidney provider to a hospital to do some medical examinations. When the agent gets the examination report, he will contact another agent who knows kidney receivers.
If there is a good match, the kidney provider and receiver, with eyes covered, will be brought to an illegal kidney transplantation operation room by car.
If the match fails, the kidney provider will go home and wait for further notice.
In this case, others made everything ready in the operation room, waiting for the attending physician (CC). When the attending physician (CC) arrived in the city by plane or high-speed rail, a car is waiting in the station to bring him to the operation room.
There is no punishment for kidney providers and receivers in 25 criminal judgments. Only people offering Illegal kidney transplantation service, such as doctors, agents, drivers etc., got punished.
In this case, 5 kidney providers are guilty. 4 of them sold their kidneys, and then got involved into illegal transplantation business.
The last one failed to sell his kidney, because the attending physician (CC) thought the operation is risky for him based on his kidney situation. He didn’t sell his kidney, but became an agent recruiting kidney providers. He earnt CNY 10,000 ($ 1522) for each transplantation.
Case Two
In the first case, they turned a house into an operation room. In this case, someone tried to rent an operation room in a hospital but failed.
An enterprise juristic person of a hospital told the court, in 2018, a man (EE) told him that he would like to rent an operation room from the hospital for small operations, such as: circumcision and hemorrhoidectomy. He agreed.
A few days later, the man (EE) told the enterprise juristic person that he rent the operation room not for small operations, but for kidney transplantation. He would pay between CNY 50,000 ($ 7613) and 100,000 ($ 15,228) for each transplantation.
The enterprise juristic person refused and said the hospital is not good enough for a kidney transplantation.
the man (EE) failed this time, but his team managed a kidney transplantation later. Unfortunately, the kidney provider (FF) called the police after the operation.
In 2018, on the internet, an EE’s team member asked if the kidney provider (FF) would like to sell his kidney for CNY 55,000 ($ 8375). At that moment the kidney provider (FF) felt that life was meaningless. He agreed.
After some medical examinations, the kidney provider (FF)’s eyes were covered, and he was brought into a car.
When FF removed his eye band, he was in a room, six persons standing, two in doctor uniform. some medicines in a conner. He was told that the operation will be done in a large hospital before. He wanted to leave but was too scared to do so.
After enema, he was anesthetized. When he woke up, he felt pain in his belly and knew his kidney was removed.
5 days later, when it was dark outside, EE’s team member told the kidney provider (FF) that CNY 55000 ($ 8375) cash was in his bag, and they would send him back by car now.
The kidney provider (FF)’s eyes were covered again. After one hour driving, they let the kidney provider (FF) get off the car, and told him DO NOT LOOK BACK!
When the kidney provider (FF) got home, he called the police.
Case Three
In the second case, the kidney provider called the police. In this case, a kidney provider’s family called the police.
In 2016, a debtor (GG) was pushed too hard by a creditor. He decided to sell his kidney. He was paid by CNY 45,000 ($ 6852). When he got home, his family found it out and called the police.
Case Four
In the last two cases, the kidney provider received the payment. The provider in this case didn’t get the payment until he called the police.
In 2015, A team removed a kidney provider (HH)’s kidney. The day after the operation, the kidney provider (HH) was told that he can’t get the payment because of the bad body situation of the kidney receiver. So, the kidney provider (HH) ran out and asked a stranger to call the police. He received CNY 50,000 ($ 7613) later.
Case Five
In the first case, there was a kidney provider failed to sell his kidney. In this case, a kidney provider regretted and refused to sell his kidney.
In 2018, a kidney provider finished all price negotiation and medical examinations, and was scheduled for a kidney transplantation. He googled “If a man has only one kidney, what will it be?”, and found out there are great bad influence for a normal life. He thought a lot, and decided not to sell his kidney.
Case Six
A kidney provider may regret his decision. A kidney provider agent could reduce such a business risk by recruiting more providers.
In 2012, the police caught a kidney provider agent. At that moment, over 20 kidney providers were organized and waiting for match results.
Case Seven
For kidney receiver, it is much easier to find.
In 2010, a chief physician (JJ) in urology department of a hospital was asked by many uremia patients for kidney transplantation. He (JJ) had a team for searching kidney providers.
He (JJ) rent an operation room from another hospital for illegal kidney transplantation. When the hospital refused to rent the operation room later, he (JJ) built his own operation room in a house.
Case Eight
In 2019, someone (KK) rent an operation room and wards from a hospital. He also provided anesthetist and assistants. He earnt CNY 95,000 ($ 14,466) for each illegal kidney transplantation.
KK’s partner (LL) was responsible other resources. LL hired a physician for removing a kidney from a provider and placing it into a receiver’s body. But the physician was too expensive and traffic was inconvenient. So, LL hired two physicians: one for kidney removal, the other for kidney placement.
When the physician for kidney placement went into the operation room, everything is ready: a kidney receiver was anesthetized, kidney was in a blue box. He earnt CNY 130,000 ($ 19796) for each transplantation.
Case Nine
In many cases, kidney providers became workers in illegal kidney transplantation business. In this case, it is a kidney receiver.
In 2014, a man had uremia. He rent a house, and bought operating table, anesthesia machine, shadowless lamp etc. He built a kidney transplantation operation room.
Before anyone got an operation in the operation room, he got caught by the police.
He argued that the operation room was only for himself, but the police found medical examination report for others.
Case Ten
In 25 judgments, doctors were honest when got caught, except an anesthetist.
In 2017, an anesthetist joined two illegal kidney transplantation. When he got arrested, he argued the first time he thought it was for appendix removal, the second time he knew it was kidney transplantation. Because of his close relation to others, it is an offer he can’t refuse. So, it was a kind of duress.
Case 11
In 2018, two kidney provider and receiver pairs got caught while doing medical examinations in Beijing. One kidney receiver said it takes 3 months and CNY 250,000 ($ 38,069) for a legal kidney transplantation in his hometown, but in Beijing, it takes one month and CNY 600,000 ($ 91,367) for a illegal one.
Case 12
Usually, a kidney was removed and placed in the same illegal operation room, except the following one.
In 2018, a kidney was removed in an illegal operation room in Hebei province, and then was sent to a hospital in Beijing for kidney transplantation.
Case 13
There are good reasons to place a kidney in a normal hospital.
In 2015, a kidney receiver paid CNY 500,000 ($ 76,139) for illegal kidney transplantation. After the operation, he was sent to a hospital. A physician found his transplanted kidney was not working. He was sent to another hospital to remove the kidney which turned black.
He got a refund of CNY50,000 ($ 7614).
Case 14
In 2015, three doctors found an illegal operation room was in poor condition, and not suitable for kidney transplantation. They were reluctant to do it. An organizer immediately gave CNY 5000 ($ 761) to a doctor immediately.
The kidney transplantation was finished but failed. The kidney was removed later, and the kidney receiver died at the end of the year.
The kidney receiver paid CNY 460,000 ($ 70,048), and got a refund of 410,000 ($ 62,434). The kidney provider kept CNY 40,000 ($ 6091).
Case 15
In 2015, a deal of an illegal kidney transplant was settled in Beijing. Then a kidney was removed successfully in Shandong province. But the kidney receiver died from pulmonary edema during the operation.
The kidney receiver’s family got a full refund of CNY 420,000 ($ 63,957).
I don’t know whether the kidney was placed back into the kidney provider’s body or not.
There are 12 episodes in The Shadow Society in China: A Glimpse Through Criminal Judgments (Chinese name: 刑事判决书里的中国) on my YouTube channel. This is the 12[sup]th[/sup] episode.
I have posted the 3[sup]rd[/sup] episode: watch brand for bribery in China.
If you like it, I will translate other episodes into English too.
I would love to hear feedbacks from you.
Thanks for watching.
