title: Smoke and mirrors: unanswered questions and misleading statements obscure the truth about organ sources in China.
abstract: This response refutes the claim made in a recent article that organs for transplantation in China will no longer be sourced from executed prisoners. We identify ongoing ethical problems due to the lack of transparent data on current numbers of transplants in China; implausible and conflicting claims about voluntary donations; and obfuscation about who counts as a voluntary donor. The big unanswered question in Chinese transplant ethics is the source of organs, and until there is an open and independently audited system in China, legitimate concerns remain about organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience.
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy and Department of Clinical Medicine, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Wendy A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.affiliation: Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting, Washington DC, USA.
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Trey
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences and School of Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fiatarone Singh
authors.affiliation: Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Madeleine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bridgett
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Katrina A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Bramstedt
authors.affiliation: Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lavee
mesh_terms: D002203:Capital Punishment / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003068:Coercion; D003132:Commerce; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D016377:Organ Transplantation / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D019724:Presumed Consent / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011329:Prisoners; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence
keywords: Coercion; Donation/Procurement of Organs/Tissues; Killing; Transplantation