Ch 7: A Critique of an Article from South China Morning Post
This is a
critique of an article from South China Morning Post which talks about change in ethical considerations of the Chinese Government
regarding the use of organs from executed prisoners. Previously organs were
removed from dead bodies of prisoners sentenced to execution without their
consent which basically lead to a massive criticism from international ethical
committees. Given the circumstances China aims at changing the practice and introduces
ethical usage of transplant organs including donor consent. The change from
systematic organ removal to ethical practices is driven by the international
image of China which had become tarnished due to the above mentioned facts. The
Chinese government plans to implement accepted ethical international standards
which ensure that organs are not used without consent.
The overall
setting of the article is adequate. However, there are some annoying adds and
some irrelevant news suggestions towards the left. The article post is an
important issue but it could have been addressed in a better way.
Secondly,
it just looks like a publicity stunt by the media, the issue is there and it is
not handled well by the government but the article says that the act is worthy,
especially after it mentions the growing organ black market. So there is a conflict
of interest in the article itself.
The article
lacks flow as it mentions random statements and facts. Furthermore, the style
in which the article is addressed is not appealing enough to make the reader
finish the whole article.
Implementation
of ethical standards is an important issue and therefore it is addressed at the
right time. The article talks about the implementation of ethical standards in
China where previously 64% of the organs came from dead inmates without their
or their family’s consent. However, if organ transplantation ceases without consent
from inmates, it can lead to severe shortage of organs for those under the
waiting list. Currently after the law implementation, 300,000 patients are
wait-listed every year and about one in 30 are lucky enough to receive an
organ. Although the implementation complies with ethical standards, it also
opens up trading in the black market. Therefore the steps that have been taken
seem to be specifically designed to eliminate statistical reports on the
Government’s behalf and transfer it to the unknown statistics of the black
market. This is like ignoring the fact that a black market for organs exists
and also indirectly fuels the illegal trade of organs. Also, a process that was
systemic is now abolished and people are forced to come to terms with the
illegal trading of organs in the black market.
Some
suggestions for these steps would be that information is enough for a death row
inmate and for his/her family. Because withholding the legal processing of
organ transplantation can lead to complications rather than correcting the
issue at hand. Besides, inmates’ bodies are routinely used for dissections by
medical students so why can’t they be used for something much more practical
such as organ transplantation.
The article
highlighted an important issue. However,
the issue could be handled in a better way by the author and it could have been
made very interesting. It just gives basic information and leaves the decision
to the readers which is sort of open ended and inconclusive.
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1296889/china-phase-out-use-prisoners-organs-transplants-november
