Video: Larry’s Kidney author discusses medical tourism
posted at 2:55 pm on July 28, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
In May (the last time I took a vacation, by the way), I wrote a review of Larry’s Kidney for the Wall Street Journal that pointed out how entertaining the book is while it tended to celebrate the lack of ethical consideration in going to China for an organ transplant. This clip from CNN allows author Daniel Asa Rose to give his side of the story, and just like the book, he’s entertaining and likable. However, once again, Rose avoids two big ethical problems with the medical tourism that he and his cousin indulged:
CNN did ask Rose why he didn’t just donate a kidney himself, which Rose avoids answering. He never gets asked about the ethical considerations of buying an organ from an executed prisoner in a regime that executes dissidents — Rose tried to slough it off in the book by telling readers he’d been assured that the executee was a very bad man — or in pushing ahead of the line in China, where 2 million people need transplants. I would have liked to have heard Rose’s perspective on that, especially because he seems like a very likable and voluble guy, and squaring that circle would have proven interesting … and I’d bet that he wouldn’t have bothered.
Rose also misses another point in his call for people to designate themselves as organ donors in case of death. People can donate kidneys while they’re still alive, too, and hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved if they would. Don’t forget to read my post on Sally Satel’s book, When Altruism Isn’t Enough, and my longer post on that subject.
Blowback
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You had a vacation in May? Lucky!
Grafted on July 28, 2009 at 3:00 PM
Uighers for Organs!
Upstater85 on July 28, 2009 at 3:03 PM
Big government, Big Brother. Sounds like the future of Obamacare if it’s passed. God help us if it is.
conservative pilgrim on July 28, 2009 at 3:03 PM
Hey Ed, our family was in Branson last week and I thought of you every time we passed the Titanic museum.
conservative pilgrim on July 28, 2009 at 3:05 PM
FarmersOrgan Markets.This is a dangerous trail to go down. There is no way to verify the provenance of an organ from china.
portlandon on July 28, 2009 at 3:05 PM
Don’t the GITMO detainees have plenty of good kidneys?
izoneguy on July 28, 2009 at 3:06 PM
There should be lots more organ donors once ObamaCare kicks in…
Wyznowski on July 28, 2009 at 3:06 PM
Maybe he could go somewhere to pay to rape some very bad people or what have you.
Upstater85 on July 28, 2009 at 3:06 PM
Yes, it’s not like buying an HDTV.
izoneguy on July 28, 2009 at 3:07 PM
Too late… all being shipped off to Bermuda while Rose get’s his organs from Chinese “criminals.”
Upstater85 on July 28, 2009 at 3:07 PM
I don’t want the organ of a Gubmint Cheese Muncher, thank you very much.
Upstater85 on July 28, 2009 at 3:08 PM
That big bust in N.J. last week had something to do with kidney transplants. It’s a case that will get more and more interesting as the information comes out.
Cindy Munford on July 28, 2009 at 3:08 PM
Michael Jackson would probably be considered a very bad man by Chinese standards. Why don’t we get his organs?
Upstater85 on July 28, 2009 at 3:08 PM
Huh…
So, you don’t think government-mandated organ harvesting is a good idea?
Think of all the people that could be saved if we just “spread the organs around a bit”.
BobMbx on July 28, 2009 at 3:09 PM
So basically this just proves that money will put you at the head of the line in a national health system. The “poor” wait in line and the “rich” pay for elite service. All in the name of fairness mind you.
Guardian on July 28, 2009 at 3:14 PM
So,this quest all started from bad blood,interesting!
canopfor on July 28, 2009 at 3:14 PM
Yeah, but too bad the organs will rot while waiting to get transplanted into the recipient!
NickelAndDime on July 28, 2009 at 3:15 PM
The good news is that the authoritarian regimes are sure to reimburse the family of the very bad people via a great highway in the next province.
Upstater85 on July 28, 2009 at 3:16 PM
So, if you get a Chinese organ transplan, do you find yourself wanting another one an hour later?
Wyznowski on July 28, 2009 at 3:16 PM
Not to worry. IceQueen Obama has ensured us that she will personally keep them frozen.
Upstater85 on July 28, 2009 at 3:17 PM
Hey, no MSG with that kidney please!
BobMbx on July 28, 2009 at 3:17 PM
Just hope the very bad people weren’t previously working in a lead paint factory.
Upstater85 on July 28, 2009 at 3:18 PM
Sorta’ gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “Chinese take-out”, doesn’t it?
BobMbx on July 28, 2009 at 3:18 PM
Canadians are going to India now for cancer treatment and surgeries due to the long wait in their health care system….
DCJeff on July 28, 2009 at 3:18 PM
Any guy who wears a snappy fedora indoors is not worth a click.
guntotinglibertarian on July 28, 2009 at 3:19 PM
Americans will soon be flocking to China for some semblance of a free press.
Upstater85 on July 28, 2009 at 3:20 PM
If Obamacare is going to keep you alive, it is only right an proper that the government gets a stake in your spare parts…
gridlock2 on July 28, 2009 at 3:20 PM
The transplant is very reasonably priced.
It’s the cookie that costs a freaking fortune.
guntotinglibertarian on July 28, 2009 at 3:21 PM
Gotta distrust someone who wears a hat like that in this day and age.
At least he’s wearing it right.
catmman on July 28, 2009 at 3:21 PM
According to Larry,there’s 80,000 on the list,and it’ll
reach 100,000!
And pray tell,with all the HOPE thats out there,can’t
wait to see how Obama’s gonna CHANGE this!!
And,is it me,or does this guy speak a tad like
Frank Zappa!
canopfor on July 28, 2009 at 3:24 PM
Yup, he was probably a Christian, who didn’t want to register in the State-sanctioned, Christian church.
OhEssYouCowboys on July 28, 2009 at 3:29 PM
It’s the cookie that costs a freaking fortune.
guntotinglibertarian on July 28, 2009
Was that intentional or did your subconscious slip that pun in on you?
SKYFOX on July 28, 2009 at 3:31 PM
Time for you to leave, Grasshopper.
OhEssYouCowboys on July 28, 2009 at 3:35 PM
Time for you to leave, Grasshopper.
OhEssYouCowboys on July 28, 2009
But I haven’t snatched the pebble yet.
SKYFOX on July 28, 2009 at 3:39 PM
He makes it sound like people should just be willing to give up their organs left and right. Well…most of us have to DIE to do that. In the case of kidneys—one is all I can give up and that will only be for a family member should it become necessary. Me having to die to save you isn’t my view of a good thing.
texabama on July 28, 2009 at 3:41 PM
oooo I want a hat. I didnt get a hat. Can I get a hat?
johnnyU on July 28, 2009 at 3:42 PM
Sweet story, the guy gets his whore and a desenters kidney too.
TheSitRep on July 28, 2009 at 3:45 PM
I refuse to even consider ANY organ donations unless i get a huge cash windfall. The doctors, the nurses, the hospitals, they all get a huge frikkin’ chunk of change for THEIR services, yet we peasants are supposed to be altruistic and donate? I don’t think so.
If everyone involved did it for free, then I’d reconsider, but if one person gets paid, then EVERYONE ought to get paid.
just sayin’…
AW1 Tim on July 28, 2009 at 3:48 PM
I just read a story recently about a guy in India (I think) who was paid a couple of hundred bucks for his kidney only to find out later that the middleman got 160k.
Guardian on July 28, 2009 at 3:53 PM
Relax folks, there are more than enough Chinese for all of us.
LimeyGeek on July 28, 2009 at 4:12 PM
Nobody wants my liver, kidneys, lungs or eyeballs…I assure you.
LimeyGeek on July 28, 2009 at 4:14 PM
I went to an Insurance seminar in Feb. A presenter was talking about new plans to supplement large corporate insurance plans with international operations. Knee, hip, heart surgeries for 1/8th the cost in the US. India, Jordan and even in Mexico. He even had a slide with the price lists.
The pitch was to give employees the option of choosing one of these plus give the $5k or $10k and a month off. All prices included first class airfare to and from, including a family member with a month of hotel/rehab and all expenses paid.
Of course my thought was if we could send all the El Paso maternity cases to the exclusive hospital in Mexico. It would be 1/8 the cost and then they wouldn’t be US citizens unless their parents were already US citizens. I’m just sayin….
barnone on July 28, 2009 at 4:39 PM
Some animals are more equal than others. And don’t you forget it, or likable Larry will rip your heart out and sell it.
GarandFan on July 28, 2009 at 4:40 PM
There are people in impoverished countries that would gladly give up a kidney for a few thousand dollars.
.
This has 2 benefits. The donor gets the equivalent of a few years livelihood. The recipient gets relief from a death sentence.
.
Controls should be put in place to prevent coercion or violence in getting organs but controlled organ sales are a life saving idea.
.
The current system is too rigid.
FactsofLife on July 28, 2009 at 4:46 PM
Funny, the same thing can be said about a great many women, even here in the USA. And the same argument applies: it’s not right to legalize people to sell their bodies for profit. End. Of. Story. Such systems inevitably lead to all manner of ghoulish exploitation.
Oh wait…I forgot, there is no such thing as ‘right’.
Dark-Star on July 28, 2009 at 9:40 PM
If the Ethicists would allow organs to be sold on an open market availability would increase.
Without an incentive to donate, which in this world is money (welcome to reality), more people would consider it. The risks of surgery to remove a kidney or liver lobe are fairly substantial to just be altruistic and give it away.
Compensation for scarce resources should be proportional to the risks involved in obtaining the resources, and when it is, resource quantities increase.
Free markets work every time they are used w/o encumbrances.
Neo on July 28, 2009 at 10:24 PM
One must have an extremely strong opposition to the concept that human beings own their own body in order to favor proscribing organ markets. It’s much the same as drug or alcohol prohibition. All three cause wanton slaughter of thousands upon thousands of innocent people, and cost taxpayers millions upon millions of dollars, every year (alcohol obviously being a historical example).
You might as well give in to ObamaCare if those are your positions, since you’ve already ceded ownership of your body to the government.
Mark Jaquith on July 29, 2009 at 12:19 AM