The missing kidney

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Surgeons laud RP for banning kidney transplants

May 27, 2008

International transplant surgeons recently commended the Philippine government for imposing a ban on kidney transplantation.

Transplantation Society, the international organization of transplant surgeons, wrote President Arroyo a letter expressing its appreciation and commendation for the ban.

Social Welfare and Development Secretary Esperanza I. Cabral was furnished a copy of the letter.

In its letter, signed by the group’s Director of Medical Affairs, Harvard professor Dr. Francis L. Delmonico, its president, Dr. Nicholas Tilney, and president-elect Dr. Jeremy R. Chapman, the group said there should be no exceptions to the directive and that a monitoring arm and oversight committee must be in place to check how the order is being carried out.

"It is well known that rich foreign patients are exploiting the poor of the Philippines in targeting them as a source of organs for transplantation," the surgeons said.

The group vowed to work with the Philippine Society of Nephrology (PSN) to ensure that President Arroyo’s directive is upheld.

Aside from the DSWD, copies of the letter were also sent to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, PSN president Dr. Benita Padilla, National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) director Dr. Enrique Ona, and Dr. Luc P.J. Noel of the World Health Organization.

Early last week, Cabral, along with the PSN, raised objections over the issue, citing unfair judgment by the health officials in granting exemptions to eight Israeli patients seeking transplants.

Cabral also expressed concern for the kidney donors of the foreign patients amid reports of illegal organ trafficking.

Duque is the chairman of the Philippine Board of Organ Donation and Transplantation (PBODT) that granted the exemption to the eight Israelis.

In a statement, Health Undersecretary Dr. Mario Villaverde said the eight Israelis were already on the waiting list of the national organ transplantation program even before the ban on foreign transplants was announced by the DoH last April 29 following a directive from President Arroyo and a recommendation from the World Health Assembly (WHA) of the WHO.

According to DSWD, it was Ona, a PBODT member, who requested for the exemption of the eight Israelis, who are also his private patients.

It was also Ona who operated on the first of the eight Israelis last May 17 at the NKTI.

Last March, the PSN sought the help of the DSWD and the InterAgency Council against Trafficking (IACAT) after the former conducted a medical mission in three towns in Quezon province and found more than 200 individuals who had sold their kidneys in the last year.

"These hapless kidney ‘donors’ were just as poor as theywere before they had sold their kidneys and many have now developed medical conditions due to lack of post-operative care," the PSN noted.

http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN20080527125696.html

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This article is a bit out of the ordinary when compared with the previous articles/posts but it is still very strange as this person appears to have been found to be missing numerous organs when autopsy was performed.

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Missing body parts mystery deepens

 June 18. 2008
A  funeral director yesterday claimed that the body of Norman Palmer was sent overseas with his body parts present.

Leon Amis of Amis Memorial Chapels said: "Everything was done as it was supposed to be done."

The mystery over the whereabouts of Mr. Palmer's missing organs is now the subject of an international investigation involving the Bermuda Coroner, a Coroner in the UK and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Bermuda Police Service is currently carrying out inquiries.

Mr. Palmer, 57, was not an organ donor and his family returned his body to the UK only to find out many of his body parts were missing.

It was only when Tony Williams for HM Coroner East Somerset, in the South West of the UK, ordered another post mortem, due to being dissatisfied with the cause of death as "respiratory failure", that the family made the horrific discovery.

Mr. Palmer, of Leafy Way, Paget, died on April 12 at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. The owner of Professional Excavating, he requested that his body be flown back to Britain to be cremated in the event of his death.

The law in England and Wales requires a Coroner to hold an inquest into a death in a foreign jurisdiction if the body is returned to the UK. According to the pathologist's post mortem report at Yeovil District Hospital, Somerset, the missing body parts include: two-thirds of the brain including the brain stem; one kidney; the spleen; the "upper mediastinal structures" including the throat, and most of the small and large intestines.


 Mr. Palmer died after complaining of an obstruction to his throat. His wife Kathy and sisters Heather Carberry and Marion Bishop claim that despite only living five-minutes away from the hospital, it took 20 minutes to get him to Accident and Emergency.

The family is now considering legal action, alleging a lack of urgency and professionalism by the ambulance attendant and driver. They allege the crew made several attempts to take Mr. Palmer out of the house on a trolley, and then the tube to his oxygen mask became detached in the ambulance.

 The family now faces the further trauma of not knowing where his body parts are, who has taken them, and why.

Ms Bishop, of Paget, has said: "This has just ruined all our lives. First of all my sister sees my brother suffocating to death, and then to find out this has happened, it's absolutely horrendous.

"Mr. Amis told The Royal Gazette yesterday that the hospital gave Mr. Palmer's body parts to the funeral home in a visca bag, according to standard practice. He said that during the embalming process they were placed in a cavity in the abdominal or thorasic area with a dry chemical to preserve the tissue.

Although staff did not note down the organs, he recalls replacing the intestines, kidneys and parts of the brain, which the UK pathologist later reported missing.

"The main things were put back," said Mr. Amis. "I wouldn't say everything was there as they (the hospital) kept some, but I would say three-quarters of these parts came back.

"I don't know where those organs could have gone to, it is mind-boggling. I really feel bad for that family, what they are going through right now. It's really sad.

"I've been in this business for 47 years and have never heard of anything like this before. "

Under the Coroner's Act 1938, the Coroner can authorise a pathologist to remove organs without the family's permission, in order to investigate a cause of death. However, the family can request their medical practioner to be present.

The Royal Gazette understands Mr. Palmer's family will now request the inquest into his death be made public. Coroner's Officer Sergeant Adrian Cook also said a public inquest was likely, following the results of the investigation.

"In this instance we have identified a multitude of public interest issues, so we expect it will be a public open inquest," he said yesterday.

Sgt. Cook said he could not comment further due to the ongoing investigation, but said: "The family will get answers."

Mr. Palmer's relatives have also written to Governor Sir Richard Gozney about their concerns. Yesterday, a spokesman said: "Government House are following the case as a result not only of their copy of a letter written on behalf of the late Mr Palmer's family but also because of personal representations to the Governor expressing the concern of the family.

"Government House are in touch with the Bermuda Police Service and the Bermuda Government."

http://www.royalgazette.com/siftology.royalgazette/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d8692f30030001&sectionId=60

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$10,000 reward offered in missing body parts mystery

Published: July 4. 2008
The distressed family of a man whose body parts went missing from his corpse are offering $10,000 for information.

The relatives of Norman Palmer say they hope the reward will compel someone to step forward in assisting the Police with their inquiries.

The mystery of Mr. Palmer's missing organs is now the subject of an international investigation involving the Bermuda Coroner, a UK coroner and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Sister, Marion Bishop said yesterday: "We are all distraught. It's been almost three months since Norm's death and we are still no further along in knowing what happened to him. The family thought that maybe if we offered this reward it might help the investigation. Somebody out there knows something, Bermuda is a small island."

Mr. Palmer, 57, was not an organ donor but his family returned his body to the UK to find most of his organs were missing. The family made the horrific discovery after HM Coroner for East Somerset Tony Williams ordered another post-mortem, due to being dissatisfied with the cause of death as "respiratory failure".

Mr. Palmer, of Leafy Way, Paget, died on April 12 at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. The owner of Professional Excavating, he requested that his body be flown back to Britain to be cremated in the event of his death.

According to the pathologist's post-mortem report at Yeovil District Hospital, Somerset, the missing body parts include: two-thirds of the brain including the brain stem; one kidney; the spleen; the "upper mediastinal structures" including the throat, and most of the small and large intestines.

Both King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and funeral home Amis Memorial Chapels however, deny any wrongdoing in Mr. Palmer's care. A spokesman for the Bermuda Hospitals Board said "a small number of tissue samples were retained" in the post-mortem, but that "all organs were returned with the deceased to the funeral home in line with BHB's policy".

Funeral director Leon Amis of Amis Memorial Chapels meanwhile, said: "Everything was done as it was supposed to be done." He claims that during the embalming process, the intestines, kidneys, parts of the brain and other organs were placed in a cavity in the abdominal area.

Yesterday, Mr. Palmer's UK funeral directors, Irish and Denman, said the body arrived back in Britain in an embalmed state. Funeral director Nigel Irish told The Royal Gazette: "We collected Mr. Palmer's body from Gatwick Airport and took him straight to the hospital. The body was embalmed and so I told the Coroner's Officer I had no reason to examine it. It looked just as it was supposed to be."

Speaking of the post-mortem findings, Mr. Irish said: "It was quite shocking, and must be terrible for the family. If anyone carries out a post-mortem here (in the UK) they have to have signed consent from the family to take any parts. I can't see why anyone would want to keep any body parts though. It seems very strange."

Irish and Denman, of South Petherton in Somerset, have been the Palmer family's funeral directors for three generations. Mr. Irish said: "This has been a very difficult and distressing situation."

The family's anguish has been compounded by the manner in which Mr. Palmer died. After complaining of an obstruction in his throat, it allegedly took 20 minutes to get him to Accident and Emergency, despite living just five minutes from the hospital, near Tee Street.

Ms Bishop, of Paget, said yesterday: "It is impossible for any of us to go forward until we get answers. The ambulance fiasco was dreadful to say the least, and then we learn Norm's body parts are missing. Sometimes we think this is all just a terrible nightmare, so our days are spent mostly trying to find out exactly how this could have happened."

Mr. Palmer's wife Kathy, 59, said: "My heart has been broken by what's happened. We were married for 30 years and it is bad enough losing Norman, but this is just horrendous. I can't even eat or sleep."

If you have any information, please contact Marion Bishop at: 732-9555.

http://www.royalgazette.com/siftology.royalgazette/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d8722f30030008&sectionId=60

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Hinduja doctors get anticipatory bail

July 09, 2008  03:22 IST
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to two doctors of Hinduja Hospital in a kidney transplant case.

Consulting nephrologist Dr Rasika Shirsat and surgeon Dr Sharad Saghade are accused in a case filed by Deepak Suryavanshi, 28, a daily-wage earner, alleging that his kidney was removed without his consent during an operation at the hospital in January 2001. The doctors’ custody was not needed since the police had recorded their statements, their lawyers Amit Desai and Amit Karkhanis said. The doctors were unlikely to abscond, they said.

The FIR names Shirsat, Rajendra Thakur — the kidney recipient — his wife Triveni and son Raju. Ashok Desai, a businessman and the alleged middleman in the kidney transplant, and Karan Nepali, who introduced Suryavanshi to Desai, are the others named. They have been booked for performing an illegal act, forgery, cheating and conspiracy.

Suryavanshi said he was asked to donate blood to Desai’s ailing friend Thakur and it was then that his kidney was removed. He realised his kidney was missing when he underwent a sonography test after suffering acute abdominal pain.

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1176560

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Thai woman reports missing kidney

Jul 16, 2008
 Bangkok - A Thai woman has lodged a complaint with police against a private hospital that she suspects pilfered one of her kidneys in the course of an ovarian cyst operation two years ago, media reports said Wednesday.

 Gasorn Pumchang, a 43-year-old factory worker, told police she had only recently discovered her right kidney was missing after being X-rayed to find the cause of her frequent fainting  spells and pains in her waist, the Bangkok Post newspaper reported.

 Deputy national police chief Jongrak Juthanont said Gasorn believes her kidney was swiped during an operation in 2006.

X-rays Gasorn had taken in 2005 showed she had both kidneys then.

Police have launched an investigation into the case.

General Jongrak said that if foul play was proven, the kidney snatcher could face up to 10 years in jail on charges of assault causing grievous bodily harm or three years in jail for robbery of personal property.

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1417263.php/Thai_woman_reports_missing_kidney

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Thai woman reports missing kidney

Jul 16, 2008
 Bangkok - A Thai woman has lodged a complaint with police against a private hospital that she suspects pilfered one of her kidneys in the course of an ovarian cyst operation two years ago, media reports said Wednesday.

 Gasorn Pumchang, a 43-year-old factory worker, told police she had only recently discovered her right kidney was missing after being X-rayed to find the cause of her frequent fainting  spells and pains in her waist, the Bangkok Post newspaper reported.

 Deputy national police chief Jongrak Juthanont said Gasorn believes her kidney was swiped during an operation in 2006.

X-rays Gasorn had taken in 2005 showed she had both kidneys then.

Police have launched an investigation into the case.

General Jongrak said that if foul play was proven, the kidney snatcher could face up to 10 years in jail on charges of assault causing grievous bodily harm or three years in jail for robbery of personal property.

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1417263.php/Thai_woman_reports_missing_kidney

Unbelievable!  I wonder if they run blood tests first to see if it's a match they can use right away or if they take them all.

         

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They couldn't take them all because the organ would have to be transplanted within 5 hours or so. If infact this is what is going on, I would imagine the blood and tissue typing of the recipient is already known. When a possible donor is found they could possibly do the blood typing in pre-op screening . This would be the time at which a perspective legitimate patient might have their labwork checked, blood type and cross-matched in the event a transfusion is required etc. Again, in most legitimate transplants, and I would think even in these case mentioned the recipient would want the organ from someone who has also been screened for HIV and Hepatitis for example. This can be done fairly quickly but does take more time than blood typing. Then again if you are dealing in a shady market...maybe they are just not that fussy.

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Missing body parts case reward doubled

Published: July 11. 2008 08:47AM
A sister traumatised by the disappearance of her brother's body parts from his corpse is offering a $20,000 reward for information.

Marion Bishop announced a $10,000 reward in last week's The Royal Gazette in the hope it would compel someone to step forward to assist the Police with their inquiries. However, a dearth of information in the past week has now prompted her to double the sum.

Ms Bishop, a businesswoman from Paget, said: "If I could find out categorically where those body parts are I would offer even more money. That's how important it is to me, to find out exactly what happened to my brother and to have that peace.

Norman was my only brother, and for his body to be mutilated like this, it is hell. I am still having nightmares about what has happened to him. Norman was a great guy, he was fun to be with and had a great sense of humour. We are all angry and heartbroken. We just feel there has been no respect for him in death."

Ms Bishop said: "I am disappointed no one has come forward so far. This could happen to anyone."

The mystery of Mr. Palmer's missing organs is now the subject of an international investigation involving the Bermuda Coroner, a UK coroner and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Wife Kathy and sisters Heather Carberry and Ms Bishop have faced an agonising wait in the three months since his death — not knowing where his body parts are, who has taken them, and why.

Mr. Palmer, 57, was not an organ donor but his family returned his body to the UK — his country of origin, to find most of his organs were missing. The family made the horrific discovery after HM Coroner for East Somerset Tony Williams ordered another post-mortem, due to being dissatisfied with the cause of death on the Bermuda paperwork as "respiratory failure".

Mr. Palmer, of Leafy Way, Paget, died on April 12 at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH). The owner of Professional Excavating, he requested that his body be flown back to Britain to be cremated in the event of his death.

According to the pathologist's post-mortem report at Yeovil District Hospital, Somerset, the missing body parts include: two-thirds of the brain including the brain stem; one kidney; the spleen; the "upper mediastinal structures" including the throat, the aorta arch of the heart; and most of the small and large intestines.

>>>the complete article
http://tinyurl.com/5c4wky

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GOL Dismisses Rumors Of Kidney Trade

August 18,2008
The Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has dismissed rumors that Mercy Ship was trading in human kidneys.

Health Minister Walter Gwenigale said the information was misleading and has no iota of truth, and is intended to discourage the humanitarian efforts of the Mercy Ship.

Minister Gwenigale, in a joint press conference with the officials of the Mercy ship Friday, said there were medical personnel trained to transplant human kidney.

But he noted that surgical procedures are complex and risky, and as such, it requires specialized equipment that is found in only few countries in the world.

“Only surgeons with long years experience are capable of doing such medical operation,” he added.

He said it is difficult that a human kidney be removed in an amateur manner and in unsterile condition to be used for transfer to another person.

Dr. Gwenigale said kidney used for transplant should be removed under sterile condition and by experienced surgeon; adding there should not be a delay in the transplanting of the organ into the recipient.

He noted that Mercy ship has served the Liberian people since 2003 with high medical standards and distinction.

As a global charity group, the minister indicated that Mercy ship has brought hope and healing to the less fortunate people irrespective of race, gender and religion.

He further noted that Mercy ship is a Christian organization and it would not venture such a deadly trade.

During the last few months, there have been reports of people being found dead with their kidneys and other parts missing.

But quit recently, there were rumors being circulated, attributing the alarming secret killings characterized by the attraction of human parts to Mercy ship presently offering free medical services to Liberians.

According to reports, the corpses are usually discovered with upper hips in back being butchered up indicating that their kidneys were subtracted.

http://thenews.com.lr/story.php?record_id=3808&sub=News

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Inside human parts market in Lagos
Sunday, February 15, 2009

Jankara market is self- effacing and deceptively ordinary. Located close to Idumagbo area of Lagos Island, the market is just a stretch of an old street.

Ears on the ground
Like other streets and markets, canvassers and touts hang around the place pitching for customers and mugus (gullible people). Though low in reputation,touts are an essential segment of this time – honoured market. Over the years, the place has come to be known as a place where any thing goes. And so, the touts come handy here.
They have their ears on the ground, and therefore know all the goings-on.

Book and wait
A week ago, our reporter posed as a juju priest who was in dire need of human body parts for urgent rituals. After about four hours of waiting and being passed from one “contact” to another, and played around like ping-pong, the reporter got a dealer who “booked” him. The rule here is, if you want a fresh human body part, you book and wait. If your order is for dry parts you get instant delivery.
But you must be an expert in human anatomy to decipher the parts you want from man’s closest animal relations – gorilla, chimpanzee and monkey.

Dark secret
But don’t jump to a hasty conclusion, there are genuine traders and honest businessmen and women at Jankara.They perhaps don’t even know that the place also habour a dark secret. A police post even looks over the place. A signpost calls it Oko Awo Police Post. An office on the counter there stared at our reporter angrily when he asked him if the police know about the wheeling and dealing in human body parts in the area: “What kind of question be this? I beg go, no be for here—o” the police officer retorted angrily.

Menumo
This expression when translated literally means “seal your lips” in Yoruba. The term is said in whisper and hushed tone — menu…mo .When you say the first syllable, you pause, look around to be sure there’s no third party or curiosity cat eaves dropping. When a deal is struck, you will be taken to some dank shanties and courtyard for your consignment.

The business is all about raw cash. A fresh human head has a street value of N250, 000. Fresh internal organs like heart, lung, kidney, and so on go for 500,000 a piece.
Other vital parts like penis, vagina and breast costs N50,000 each.Fresh tongue is sold at N100,000.
Sunday Sun learnt when a tongue is “ritualized and jujufied” that it “works well” for traders and people who apply for visa to go abroad “when well prepared, no one go question you for embassy and even your working place”, a dealer whose alias is Baba Ibeji revealed.
Toe and finger, Sunday Sun further learnt are good for travelers and business people. “ The toe is for traveling without falling.
The finger is to make money. Any thing you touch turns to money”, Baba Ibeji said.
Fresh toe and finger goes for N50,000 each.

Ritual animals
Even animals considered endangered species are not spared in Jankara. Herbalist beside the area’s butcher shop openly sell a wide range of animals. Imprisoned in wire-mesh cages are live animals like eagles, tortoise, chamellion, alligator and so on. A live eagle goes for N10,000.
Dead and dry one costsN500,000. Live Tortois costN5,000 while ordinary empty one is sold for N2,500.
Live chamelion costs N2,500. Dead and dry one goes for N2,000. The lizard-like creature, Sunday Sun learnt, is in demand by Advance Fee Fraudster —419. “When the thing is worked”, it means the more you look, the less you see, you will never caught,” one of the dealers who declined to give his name said.

Tough-skinned
The dealers know their terrain and the world they inhabit.They smell and sense danger in the air all the time. They are inclined to do business with you if you mention and have a prove of a regular Juju priest and customer. Even at this, they will still carry out a check on you. There’s no physical search. Under the pretex of “bringing your thing”, they will call your guarrantor and run a check on you. Any discovery of falsehood, they will cancel the deal and melt out of sight, leaving you to wait forever

Where missing people go
Jankara might be the possible place where missing persons in Lagos resurface but reduced to faceless, liveless body parts. As though to corroborate this, the managing director of Lagos State waste Management Authority (LAWMAN), Mr Ola Oresanya told Sunday Sun in an interview that hardly a day passes in the city without street sweepers and refuse collectors picking dismembered corpses and body parts.

“The corpses and body parts may be the handwork of ritualist and hit-and-run drivers”, he said.
Meanwhile Sunday Sun learnt that the morgues in the city are brimming with unclaimed dcorpses.There’s no more land for mass burial. So cremnation is the only option,” the source said.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/feb/15/national-15-02-2009-01.htm