Hot Spots

Activity related to the organ trade around the world

Also see the photographic essay by Nancy Scheper-Hughes

Russia

• Illegal cadaveric body part purchases
  
  A commerce in corneas in Italy taken from cadavers in St. Petersburgh lead to the imprisonment of 41 people, including doctors and intermediators, and included the confiscation of 141 pieces of evidence. (A. Damico: E I Nas scoprirono la mafia degli occhi," La Repubblica, April 13, 1994. This lead to the passing of a law prohibiting the sale of human organs ("Russia tightens up on transplants," British Medical Journal, November 14, 1992, p 1178).