On November 15, The Washington Post reported that European medical officials and law enforcement are launching an international investigation into the illegal trade of human organs. The problem is on the rise because of the scarcity of the organs needed. it is simple supply and demand. The poor are so desperate that they are willing to be exploited and literally have organs taken from their body, only to never be paid the large sum of money they were promised. A very high profile case of this was just uncovered in Europe, where victims from Russia, Turkey, and Moldova were promised $20,000 for their kidneys. The victims did have kidneys removed, but they were never paid anything. The organs were then transplanted into very wealthy purchasers in a clinic outside of Pristina. These horrific events are also taking place in the United States as well, however. Levy Rosenbaum confessed in federal court that he had harvested organs from the very poor in Israel and then sold them for $120,000 or more here in the USA. The goal of the investigation is to find out the involvement of organized crime in the trade and to uncover supply and demand, not to get hard numbers.
This article does an excellent job at showing exactly what can take place when there are such inequalities in the world that we live in. There is such stratification, that people are actually willing to sell parts of their own bodies to pay their bills and take care of their families. The article goes on to articulate how organized crime groups exploit these poor people and never even give them the money they are promised. It was very informative and gave great facts on the investigation being completed. The article was also very heartfelt though, and it kept the reader hanging on every word. Overall, it was a very interesting read.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/dutch-academic-hospital-to-head-international-probe-into-organ-trafficking/2012/11/15/ee4d9d8e-2f0c-11e2-af17-67abba0676e2_story.html
11/16/12 8:06 AM
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