Study retraction reignites concern over China’s possible use of prisoner organs

Study retraction reignites concern over China’s possible use of prisoner organs
By Dalmeet Singh Chawla

Feb. 6, 2017 , 4:15 PM

A journal has decided to retract a 2016 study because of concerns that its data on the safety of liver transplantation involved organs sourced from executed prisoners in China. The action, taken despite a denial by the study’s authors that such organs were used, comes after clinical ethicist Wendy Rogers of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and colleagues authored a letter to the editor of Liver International on 30 January, calling for the paper’s retraction in the “absence of credible evidence of ethical sourcing of organs.”

For years, Chinese officials have come under fire for allegedly allowing the use of organs from executed prisoner for transplants, including for foreigners coming to the country for so-called medical tourism. In January 2015, it explicitly banned the practice and set up a volunteer donation system, but doubts persist that much has changed.
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Of Interest:
Feb 7, 2017
China 'mending its ways' on unethical organ transplants, official says
Beijing's top official on transplants said on Tuesday Beijing was "mending its ways" from a murky past when organs were taken from detained or executed prisoners.

Overview
Lawmakers Hear From Organ Harvesting Investigators
Human rights subcommittee urged to help stop organ pillaging from prisoners of conscience in China.