He called for the Australian Government to enact laws that would make it illegal for pharmaceutical companies to conduct transplant clinical trials in China. He also suggested immigration entry cards should include a question about whether travellers have received a transplant in high-risk countries like China, India or Philippines.
“These are small non-confrontational steps the Government can take, yet send a strong message,” Mr Gutman said.
Transplant Tourism
Sydney University professor and doctor, Maria Fiatarone Singh, also spoke at the Canberra briefing. She is a contributor to the book State Organs: Transplant Abuse in China, co-written with Mr Gutmann.
Dr Fiatarone Singh stressed the importance of collecting more data from Australian hospitals and other institutions on how many citizens have travelled to receive quick transplants overseas, especially in China.
“We have no idea how many have travelled to receive these unethical operations. The public must be informed of the risks and the Government should take a bigger role in collecting this data,” said Dr Fiatarone Singh.
An article in the 2005 issue of the Medical Journal of Australia titled “Outcome of overseas commercial kidney transplantation: an Australian perspective” provides limited data on the issue.
The data lists 16 patients who were seen at Sydney’s St George area hospitals after receiving kidney transplants overseas. These included surgeries performed in India, Iraq, the Philippines and China.
The data lists transplant operations performed between 1990 and 2004. Seven out of the 16 cases were in China. The article warned that overseas organ transplants carry significant risks of HIV, Hepatitis and rejection.
Prolific Organ Theft
Mr Gutmann tells the story of prolific state-run organ harvesting in China. According to his investigations, willing organ donation is virtually non-existent. Instead, the military hospitals, labour camps and prisons have become sites for en masse killing-on-demand facilities.
