Friday, May 1, 2009
The topic of Organ Trading in Singapore has been brought up again because a sick but very wealthy man was caught lying about purchasing a kidney for a transplant for himself.
Retail tycoon Tang Wee Sung, 56 was jailed for a day and fined $10,000 for making a false statutory declaration to get approval for a kidney transplant. Why the short sentence??
District Judge Ng Peng Hong said Tang's extreme ill health made it inexpedient to impose a long jail sentence.
Tang Wee Sung was so ill that it was said that he needed a nurse by his side and had to take about 50 pills and injections daily. He has a whole host of illness, including kidney failure, heart disease, and sleep apnea and his lawyer said that he might not survive in prison, thus the short sentence.
Tang Wee Sung was lying in a statutory declaration that he was getting the kidney from the Indonesian donor Sulaiman Damanik, who was a relative, for free. Sulaiman was fined $1000 for organ trading and jailed two weeks for lying under oath, in June.
Because of this incident, Singapore has been considering legalising organ trading and had been greeted with a host of different views:
Shafted said...
It is a frightening thought that organ recipients will be determined by their financial muscle rather than medical needs and suitability.And since MoH can harvest serfs who did not opt out, that's another profit center for the gahment...If organs are just another commodity whose trading should be legalised like your car or house, does Mr Wang also support the gahment's legal right to forcibly acquire it in the name of "national interest/service", as is the case today with land acquisition, conscription and reservist (can mobilise civilian resources)?
Anonymous said...
the sale of internal organs may arguably be uncomortable for some, however, the sale of sperms and eggs should be legalised asap.statistics show that a sizable portion of couples are unable to conceive, often due to defective sperms and/or eggs due to late marriages.legalising egg/sperm sales will literally mean a lifeline for many, and it's a lot more desirable than trying to import foreigners to make up the numbers.
Mr Wang Says So said...
Anon June 29, 2008 11:20 PM:1. The buyer pays $X for the organ.2. The government collects the $X.3. The government pays the $X to the seller.Patient priority will be established the same way it is being established now. For example, suppose the hospital has 100 patients who need a kidney. One kidney then becomes available, due to a healthy person who died in an accident. How does the hospital decide which of the 100 persons gets the kidney? Presumably, it's based on a combination of considerations such as:1. which patient was on the waiting list first;2. medically, which patient is in most urgent need of a kidney (i.e which patient is most likely to die soonest, without a kidney transplant)3. medically, whether the prognosis is favourable (i.e whether the patient is likely to recover, if given the kidney). Shafted:You said: "It is a frightening thought that organ recipients will be determined by their financial muscle rather than medical needs and suitability."You probably misunderstood my post. See comment above.By the way, I do agree with the idea that suitable organs can be taken from dead people and used to save other people's lives. The "if you didn't opt out, then we take it that you have opted in" part of that system is the uncomfortable element. The better alternative would really to have required all citizens to expressly elect "yes" or "no". Anon June 29, 2008 11:21 PM:Under our current system, it is interesting to note that if you are very poor and very desperate, you can still donate your kidney out of the kindness of your heart;but if you are very poor and very desperate, you cannot sell your kidney for money. Does that make sense to you?
What's your take on this????
Feel free to write comments
For full article, view:
http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2008/06/issue-of-human-organ-trading-in.html
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Courts%2Band%2BCrime/Story/STIStory_274811.html
- 3:02 AM;