organ donor

Organ transplantation is one of the chief glories of modern medicine. But it's a miracle tragically out of reach for many thousands of people whose lives might be saved.

PAUL Lee got his liver from an executed Chinese prisoner; Karam in Egypt bought a kidney for his sister for £2,600; in Istanbul Hakan is holding out for £15,200 for one of his kidneys. They are not so unusual: recent figures from the World Health Organisation show a serious shortage of donated organs in richer countries is sending foreigners with end-stage illnesses to poorer places like China, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Colombia and the Philippines to buy a new lease of life.

A South Carolina Senate panel last month endorsed a proposal to cut 180 days off the sentence of an inmate who donates an organ or tissue for use in transplantation. This proposal is well intentioned, but misguided.