Body Parts For Sale

Monday, Mar. 09, 1998 By CHRISTINE GORMAN REPORTED BY ELAINE RIVERA/NEW YORK AND MIA TURNER/BEIJING
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Wu signed two contracts with Wang and then arranged for the organ broker to meet someone he said was a member of the board, but who was really an FBI agent in disguise. This time both Wang and Fu were present, and according to the federal complaint, Wang "discussed the methods by which Chinese prisoners are executed." (Amnesty International says that if corneas are needed, prisoners are shot in the chest; those who are slated to donate kidneys are shot in the head.) Fu also guaranteed that any lungs would come from nonsmokers. After haggling a bit over the price of various organs, the agent wrapped up the deal--and then had Wang and Fu arrested. If convicted, they face maximum sentences of five years in prison and fines of $250,000.

While it is illegal in the U.S. to buy or sell human organs, there may still be reason for concern. Take, for example, a new "Life for a Life" bill introduced last month in the Missouri state legislature. It would allow prisoners on death row to exchange a kidney or bone-marrow transplant for a sentence of life without parole. Although doctors have attacked the bill on moral grounds, arguing that a choice between death or transplantation is never free, defense attorneys have called it "fascinating." Strictly speaking, of course, the prisoners wouldn't be selling their organs. But they would be buying themselves a lot more time.

--Reported by Elaine Rivera/New York and Mia Turner/Beijing