BC investigating legality of `facilitating' kidney transplants.VANCOUVER -- B.C. government is looking into the legality le·gal·i·ty n. pl. le·gal·i·ties 1. The state or quality of being legal; lawfulness. 2. Adherence to or observance of the law. 3. A requirement enjoined by law. Often used in the plural. of the The Kidney Group, which charges substantial fees to facilitate kidney transplants kidney transplant or renal transplant Replacement of a diseased or damaged kidney with one from a living relative or a legally dead donor. The former's tissue type is more likely to match, reducing the chance of rejection; but removal puts the donor at risk, in China for Canadians and Americans. The health ministry is trying to determine if the company is violating BC's Human Tissue Girl Act, B.C. The B.C. law does not permit direct or indirect trade in human tissues. All tissues available for transplant transplant or graft Partial or complete organ or other body part removed from one site and attached at another. It may come from the same or a different person or an animal. One from the same person—most often a skin graft—is not rejected. must be donated do·nate v. do·nat·ed, do·nat·ing, do·nates v.tr. To present as a gift to a fund or cause; contribute. v.intr. To make a contribution to a fund or cause. , not purchased. The maximum penalty under the act is a $1000 fine or a six-month jail sentence jail sentence jail n → peine f de prison . The five month old company, headed by Vincent Lam Vincent Lam (born September 5 1974) is a Canadian writer and medical doctor. Born in London, Ontario and raised in Ottawa, his parents came to Canada from the Chinese expatriate community in Vietnam. He attended St. , a service", therefore, operating within the law. The Kidney Group charges a fee of $75,000 us for consultation services, which include transmitting a patient's medical information to Chinese hospitals, where local doctors determine if a transplant operation is viable. The fee also includes surgery costs, a one-month hospital stay and the company's consultation costs. Lam states that patients do not pay for the organs themselves which a re donated. Questions hang over the questions of the "donations" in China. Critics charge that organs have been taken from executed prisoners and others who have not given voluntarily. Thus far the company has been dealing with inquiries from hundreds of Americans and a few Canadians. No single arrangement for a kidney transplant has been completed. The wait for a kidney transplant in Canada is two to six years. |
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