A recent kidney transplant operation, in which each family of
the two patients donated a kidney to the other, has spurred even
greater controversy, bringing intervention from authorities, the
Guangzhou-based Information Times reported Wednesday.
The operation was first denied by the No. 2 Affiliated Hospital
of Guangzhou Medical College in the southern province of Guangdong.
The mass media successively exposed the eye-catching event, drawing
considerable attention from various circles of society ever since.
Although the two uremia sufferers finally underwent the operations
at the Hospital of Hainan Farming Bureau in Hainan Province on
Monday, the heat of the debate resulting from the twisting story is
still on.
When the two uremia sufferers, He Yiwen and He Zhigang found out
that suitable kidney donors with compatible blood types were from
the family of each other, the two families decided to exchange
kidneys.
Unfortunately, after they were accepted by the No. 2 Affiliated
Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College, the medical ethics committee
of the hospital vetoed the transplant surgery, saying it violated
the "Human Organ Transplant Regulations" issued by the State
Council in May, 2007.
According to one of the members of the committee, the exchange
is morally acceptable, but the situation of the two patients failed
to comply with any one of the three conditions under which the
exchange kidneys could be legally carried out.
The denial of the trans-donation gave rise to a fierce dispute
among different voices. An on-line poll demonstrated that 86.1% of
Internet voters took sides with humanity while 11.91% supported the
inviolability of the law.
In spite of the setback, the two patients were subsequently
accepted by the Hospital of Hainan Farming Bureau and the kidney
operation was carried out successfully on January 7. Till then, the
event seemed to come to a smooth end.
However, the front-page news incurred interventional
investigation from Hainan Provincial Department of Health, for its
legitimacy was under suspicion.
In the meantime, the Provincial Health Department of Guangdong,
where the first concerning hospital is located, also criticized the
surgery as against the "Human Organ Transplant Regulations" and
that kidney transplant might not have been the best cure in this
case.
For the moment, this argument of social ethics vs. rationality
of law sees no hope of dying down.
(CRI January 9, 2008)