A 17-year-old boy known only as Wang (his surname) is at the center of controversy in China. He allegedly sold his kidney last April as a way to get money for an iPhone and iPad, according to reports, and he is now suffering from renal deficiency as a result. His case highlights a growing issue in the People’s Republic of China; although black market organ farming is nothing new, the recent spate of teens selling their vital organs for money is a new occurrence that is on the rise. And it has the international media in a tizzy. But why is this strange phenomenon happening in the first place, and what is being done to stop it?

According to reports out of China, five people have been indicted for the incident on charges of intentional injury and involvement in illegal organ trading. Of these five, three were allegedly brokers who went online to lure young people into donating their organs for transplant, and then arranged for the venue at which the surgery would take place (the other two parties involved were the surgeon and a hospital contractor that leased the operating room for the procedure). When all was said and done, the group walked away with 220,000 Yuan (or $35,000 US), about 10% of which went to Wang while the rest was split amongst the conspirators. No information has yet been released about the party who paid for and received the organ transplant.

Wang’s parents were not informed of the surgery their son underwent and didn’t find out about it until his mother became suspicious of the new toys he brought home. She apparently questioned him about his new iPhone and iPad, neither of which the family could afford (they live in Anhui, one of the poorest provinces). The teen admitted that he had sold his kidney for the money to buy these items, and he’s not alone. It seems that a sort of epidemic has gripped the youth of the nation, many of whom are willing to go to extreme lengths to get the material goods that have begun to stream into their society recently. Chinese officials blame this turn of events on a rapidly evolving consumer culture within their borders, one that the most recent generation has grown up with. Communist Party publication Guangming Daily has blamed this incident and others like it on the growth of materialism and blind competition.

Unfortunately, Wang is learning his lesson the hard way. Not even a short term health insurance quote could help him now. With only socialized medicine to fall back on, his rapidly deteriorating state of health is not likely to improve. And while his family may be able to launch a civil suit for restitution once the state has finished trying the defendants, any money that could help his cause will likely come too late for Wang. This horrifying situation is made no better by the fact that Wang is only one of thousands drawn into this type of trap, many of them merely seeking ways to pay off debt or dig themselves out of the crippling poverty they face. With an estimated 1.5 million people awaiting organ transplants in China and only around 10,000 legal donors coming up annually, the black market for organs is understandably profitable. And with such a large population below the poverty level, the country is ripe for the picking, so to speak. But hopefully media attention and government action will provide the one-two punch needed to slow or even stop such operations. In truth, ongoing attention can only help.

Editor’s Note

Thanks to Evan Fischer for this quest post. He is a freelance writer and part-time student at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.