Doctor suspected in kidney trafficking

WUHAN - Local authorities in Central China's Hubei province have confirmed Monday that a doctor allegedly involved in a kidney trafficking operation busted in August worked at a public hospital.

Procurators from the Jiangxia District in Wuhan, capital city of Hubei, said that the doctor, surnamed Chen, who was allegedly in charge of the kidney transplant operation, worked as an attending physician in a public hospital in Northwest Shaanxi province.

In August, local police busted an illegal organ trafficking ring in a villa in Jiangxia District and arrested 12 suspects, including a team of two doctors and three nurses. They are suspected of taking part in the sale and transplant of organs for money, which is strictly prohibited in China.

An investigation by the local police revealed that a total of seven kidney transplant surgeries had been carried out in the villa between January and August.

A recipient had to spend as much as 400,000 yuan (about $65,360) to receive a kidney, but the donor was paid only 30,000 yuan, with the rest of the money split among the doctors, nurses, informants and other ring members, according to the police.