Japan probes reported deaths from China organ transplants

February 28, 2006

Medical model of the body showing the organs. Japan is probing human organ transplants in China, a government official said after a report that at least seven Japanese nationals died after treatment in the neighboring country

Japan is probing human organ transplants in China, a government official said, after a report that at least seven Japanese nationals died after treatment in the neighboring country.

China has an increasingly lucrative transplant industry but it is tainted by allegations that the organs of executed prisoners are harvested and sold to hospitals.

The Japanese health ministry is seeking more details about the patients who headed to China due to a dearth of organs at home, said Masae Yano at the ministry's Office of Organ Transplantation.

"Our office is investigating the realities of travelling patients and their conditions after organ transplants," she said, adding it would conclude a report by the end of March.

"The investigation was prompted by reports that some people had died at Japanese hospitals from infection and other complications after receiving transplant operations in Asian countries," she told AFP.

The reports were forwarded by the Japan Society for Transplantation, which was formed by surgeons and other medical experts, she said.

Jiji Press news agency said Sunday at least seven Japanese patients who travelled to China over the past two years died soon after the operations.

The patients were in their 30s to 50s and died in Shanghai, the northeastern city of Shenyang and the southern city of Changsha from early 2004 to February 2006, Jiji said, quoting diplomatic sources and transplant support groups.

It also reported a total of 180 Japanese had undergone liver and kidney transplant operations in China in 2004 and 2005 alone.

Copyright © 2005 MediaCorp Press Ltd.

This article posted March 18, 2006.