Are there any confirmed cases of organ theft from living people by “black” transplantologists?

From time to time, the media and social networks make a fuss about another story that somewhere, for example, a kidney was stolen from someone. Usually the story is told like this: a man came to a bar and they slipped something on him, or he was just walking down the street, someone attacked him - and that’s all. Then the victim comes to his senses in an ice bath and feels a fresh scar on his body. He calls the ambulance and the police, and there they explain to him that it turns out that his kidney/part of his liver or something else was stolen. We decided to find out whether such a scenario is even possible and whether there have been such cases recorded by authoritative sources.

A quick scan of newspaper headlines reveals an incredible range of reports of stolen organs. In China, a six-year-old child was allegedly stolen cornea, in Moscow with a young actor - testicles, and in the shopping center the baby has - kidney. The kidney, it should be noted, is the most popular organ for theft, which also corresponds to the length queues on the waiting list for her transplant. In Russia there are more than 6,000 people. For comparison, about 100 patients are waiting for lung transplantation, 700–800 patients are waiting for heart transplantation, and 1700–1800 are waiting for liver transplantation.

In order to understand the issue, you need to define some concepts. Removal of organs and tissues can occur for various reasons: medical - transplantation; scientific - studying; commercial — sale, production of souvenirs, etc.; physiological - eating; religious - creation of religious objects, use for sacrifices; individual psychological - satisfaction of personal needs, such as creativity or revenge. In this analysis, we will limit ourselves to the medical motive, that is, the removal of organs as donor material for transplantation.

Involuntary donation is criminal punishable: forcing him assumes in Russia the period is up to four years, and implementation provides penalties up to life imprisonment and the death penalty. Also donation It happens intravital and posthumous. So the question in the title can be reformulated formally more precisely: “Are there cases of involuntary lifetime organ donation?”

In the 20th century in China there was legislation fixed the practice of removing organs from people sentenced to death. Under pressure international medical community law canceled, however there is evidence, including doctors, that this practice is still widespread.

In addition to China, Albania and Kosovo have been accused of involuntary organ harvesting. Former Hague Tribunal prosecutor Carla del Ponte in 2008 told about the abductions by Albanians of 300 Serbs, Gypsies and Albanians who do not support Hashim Thaci. According to her information, their kidneys and heart were removed. She said that prisoners with one kidney already taken were forced to live in captivity until a buyer was found for the second. In 2010, the Council of Europe made a statement about this report. Only November 9, 2020 took place first hearings in this case.

Thus, in world practice there are indeed cases of involuntary intravital organ removal for the purpose of transplantation. Such cases usually occur in countries with totalitarian regimes or those in a state of war, that is, in countries where it is difficult to track the disappearance of dozens of people. 

However, even in peacetime, stories about “black” transplantologists are quite tenacious. Stories about killer doctors gained popularity in Russia after the sensational criminal prosecution of doctors from the capital’s City Clinical Hospital No. 20. A victim with a severe head injury was brought to them. Doctors assessed his condition as critical and informed the Moscow Coordination Center for Organ Donation about the availability of a potential donor. However, preparations for the organ harvesting were interrupted by law enforcement officers. Doctors presented The charge of preparing premeditated murder, the investigation and appeals took more than three years. As a result, the Supreme Court carried out acquittal, but the reputation of domestic transplantology was inflicted a serious blow, and hundreds of patients died without waiting for a life-saving organ.

Thus, a persistent prejudice against organ donation appeared in Russian society, and the media more than once savored bloody history, not supported by any facts. Usually the stories about “black” transplantologists are that “the victim was walking down the street, lost consciousness - came to his senses in an ice bath.”

Let's start with the fact that an organ outside the body is suitable for transplantation for a very short time, which is why in TV series about doctors we see that transplant teams use helicopters. For example, lungs Can transplantation takes no more than seven hours, the heart lives for about nine hours, the liver for 16, and the kidneys remain viable for up to a day after removal. Thus, the idea of ​​attacking a person, removing organs and “preserving” them until a recipient is found is unrealistic.

Competent intravital organ removal from a donor requires a significant number of personnel and special equipment. The staff should include an anesthesiologist-resuscitator (ideally accompanied by anesthesiological nursing staff), a team of transplant surgeons (a specialist in general surgery or any other profile does not have sufficient knowledge and experience in such operations), operating nursing staff, a laboratory assistant and a laboratory doctor, as well as a specialized specialist (in the case of kidney donation - a nephrologist, a heart - a cardiologist, a lung - a pulmonologist, etc.). d.). Typically, up to 100 personnel are involved in transplant operations. In addition, a successful transplant requires special equipment - an artificial kidney (the transplanted kidney does not always start up immediately), cardiac monitors, infusion pumps, ventilators and ECMO, as well as prescription drugs for the donor and recipient during the operation. That is, it will not be possible to organize such a complex in a basement or on a suburban area.

Another important point is that transplanting a donor organ does not make the recipient immediately and completely healthy. He will be required specific anti-rejection medications either for many years or for life. It is almost impossible to receive them without having an official document on organ transplantation. Moreover, with so many participants in the process, it is unlikely that the story will be leaked to the media.

Finally, let's address the myth of the ice bath. In most urban legends, this is where the person comes to his senses. Let’s omit physical calculations of how many hours at room temperature all the ice will melt. Instead, let's turn to another fact: at a water temperature of +2–3 °C, human death comes within 10–15 minutes. All the elements of horror stories about “waking up without a kidney in an ice bath” have no logical basis. 

Thus, cases of involuntary donation have been recorded in world practice, but most often occur in countries with totalitarian regimes or in a state of military conflict, and are investigated by international tribunals. And stories about how a man was drinking with a stranger in a bar, and then woke up in an ice bath without a kidney, removed in the basement by a gang of “black” transplantologists, are an urban horror story.

Fake

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Carla del Ponte "Hunting. Me and the war criminals"
2. Sasha Milivoev "The Boy from the Yellow House"
3. BBC: Tracey Jolliffe: The woman who donates her organs to strangers