Saletan and the organ trade

The growing organ trade first came to media attention around 2002 or so. Saletan has the 2006 update. Growth has been exponential ...

The worldwide market in human organs. - By William Saletan - Slate Magazine.

...The numbers on the maps add up to thousands. According to the World Health Organization, the annual tally of international kidney transactions alone is about 6,000. The evidence includes reports from brokers and physicians, accounts from Indian villages, surveys of hospitals in Japan, government records in Singapore, and scars in Egyptian slums. In Pakistan, 40 percent of people in some villages are turning up with only one kidney. Charts presented at the meetings show the number of "donations" from unrelated Pakistanis skyrocketing. Two-thirds of the people getting these organs are foreigners. Data from the Philippines show the same thing...

This is about taking life from the weak and giving life to the strong. Here's one more reason why this is not a good idea. Someday the friends and family of those who give up their organs will go looking for revenge ...