Five people in southern China have been charged with intentional injury in the case of a Chinese teenager who sold a kidney so he could buy an iPhone and an iPad, reports the government-run Xinhua News Agency — as noted by “Reuters” (http://macte.ch/sNgtO). IPhones start at 3,988 yuan ($633), and iPads begin at 2,988 yuan ($474).
The five included a surgeon who removed a kidney from a 17-year-old boy — purportedly from Anhui, one of China’s poorest provinces — in April last year. The boy, identified only by his surname Wang, now suffers from renal deficiency, Xinhua quoted prosecutors in Chenzhou city, according to “Reuters.”
According to the Xinhua account, one of the defendants received about 220,000 yuan (about $35,000) to arrange the transplant. He paid Wang 22,000 yuan and split the rest with the surgeon, the three other defendants and other medical staff. The report didn’t say who received and paid for the kidney.