Transplant Tourism From Taiwan to China: Some Reflection on Professional Ethics and Regulation

摘要

Transplant tourism from Taiwan to China happened ferventlyin the past decade.My research based on the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database shows there were 1919 domestic renal transplantation cases but 2284 overseas renal transplantation cases from 1998 to 2007. This medical and social practice was considered ethically problematic and was discussed at the medical ethics committee of the Department of Health. I introduce in this commentary how ethics guidelines and legal regulations have been established to discourage transplant tourism in Taiwan in last 3 years. Some arguments present an interesting contrast to this target article.