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Epoch Times
4 hours ago
- Epoch Times
Taiwanese Doctor Expresses Concern Over China's Organ Industry
A Taiwanese doctor who is part of a medical ethics nonprofit has expressed concerns about China's organ industry, especially regarding children. Huang Shiwei, vice chairman of the medical ethics nonprofit Taiwan International Organ Transplant Care Association, told NTD's Health 1+1 program that he was troubled by an alleged order that a hospital gave medical student Luo Shuaiyu. The medical student, Luo Shuaiyu, specialized in kidney transplantation at the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University. Authorities said Luo fell to his death from a building in May 2024, just weeks before his graduation. According to audio recordings released by his parents after his death, Luo had been asked to locate 12 child donors aged 3 to 9, ostensibly for medical purposes. Huang said this is concerning given China's record of forced organ harvesting. 'They asked [Luo] to find child donors. Where was he supposed to look?' Huang said. Pediatric Organs On May 21, 2024, Fudan University Medical College in Shanghai established a pediatric organ transplant center. According to the university, Li Qian, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) secretary at the pediatric hospital, said that 'in just over a year, [pediatric organ transplants] have exceeded 100 cases.' State media outlet Sina reported that the hospital has performed highly complex surgeries, including kidney transplants from donors weighing less than 5 kg (11 pounds), indicating that newborns are among the donors. In 2017, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou reported that 90 percent of pediatric kidney donors were allocated to adult patients. A 2023 study by doctors from Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Renji Hospital, published in the American Journal of Transplantation, detailed two cases of kidney transplants from newborns born at 29 weeks and 29 weeks, 5 days to adult women aged 34 and 25 with end-stage kidney disease. The kidneys were harvested on the second and third days after birth, prompting ethical scrutiny. Shabih Manzar, associate professor of clinical pediatrics at Louisiana State University, questioned the procedure in the same journal, noting that one of the 29-week preterm infants had no apparent life-threatening conditions, casting doubt on the decision to withdraw life-sustaining treatment. Huang noted the high survival rates of 29-week preterm infants with modern medical technology. 'Whether it's the parents or the medical system, everyone would typically do everything possible to save these preterm newborns,' he said. 'No one would give up and simply designate them as organ donors. Yet, we see that they are using 29-week preterm infants as organ donors.' China's Organ Harvesting Industry China began using organs from executed prisoners following a 1984 regulation allowing the practice. After 1999, when the regime began persecuting the spiritual group Falun Gong, China's organ transplant industry exponentially increased. Huang noted that when former CCP leader Jiang Zemin initiated the persecution campaign against Falun Gong, practitioners were branded as 'class enemies,' making them prime targets for forced organ harvesting. This period marked an unprecedented surge in organ transplants. According to data from the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong, compiled from Chinese state media reports, only 135 liver transplants were recorded in China over more than two decades before 1999, averaging five to six cases annually. From 1999 to 2006, liver transplants skyrocketed to 14,085 cases over the eight-year period, averaging more than 1,700 cases per year—a 180-fold increase. 'Organ transplantation in China suddenly became a massive industry,' Huang said. 'With countless patients in China and worldwide needing organs, there are enormous commercial interests at play.' In March 2006, a whistleblower using the pseudonym Annie, a former employee of Sujiatun Thrombosis Hospital in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, revealed to The Epoch Times the CCP's horrific practice of forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners. This exposure had a significant impact on China's organ transplant industry. According to the China Liver Transplant Registry, cited by state media People's Daily, liver transplants peaked at 2,970 cases in 2005 and 2,781 in 2006 but fell by roughly one-third to 1,822 cases in 2007. Huang attributed this decline to the 2006 revelations. 'The reason for the decrease in organ transplants in China in 2007 was the exposure of the CCP's forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners,' Huang said. 'As relatives relentlessly searched for family members detained for practicing Falun Gong, it became increasingly difficult for the CCP's public security and medical personnel to continue using Falun Gong practitioners' organs on such a large scale.' He said the drop in transplant numbers underscores the international scrutiny and domestic pressure that began to disrupt the CCP's organ harvesting operations. Concerns 'Forced organ harvesting in China appears to be targeting specific ethnic, linguistic, or religious minorities held in detention, often without being explained the reasons for arrest or given arrest warrants, at different locations,' according to a 2021 joint statement from the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Huang said: 'In most countries, organ donors tend to be older, 50, 60, or even 70 years old. But in China, the organ transplant industry operates differently. When organs are supplied to wealthy individuals, they naturally demand those from younger people.' Huang said he believes in China there is now an increasing focus on obtaining organs from young individuals, including children. A surge in mysterious disappearances of adolescents across multiple Chinese provinces in recent years has fueled public suspicion of organ trafficking, especially because of China's extensive surveillance infrastructure. In October 2022, Hu Xinyu, a first-year high school student in eastern China's Jiangxi Province, mysteriously disappeared from school. Various reports from insiders and overseas whistleblowers allege that the Hu case is linked to forced organ harvesting. In August 2023, 8-year-old Wang Sijun, who had a rare Rh-negative blood type, died unexpectedly while receiving treatment at Yunnan Red Cross Hospital. According to viral videos posted by her family on platforms such as Douyin, Wang was admitted for a routine examination while accompanying a relative, only to die in the nephrology ward. Her autopsy cited hemorrhagic shock as the cause of death, with traces of the anticoagulant enoxaparin sodium detected, leading her family to suspect blood extraction and organ theft. Although no definitive evidence confirms organ harvesting in the case, Huang noted that widespread allegations of hospitals engaging in such practices have created a climate of heightened anxiety. Documented cases, such as a fraudulent organ donation scandal in Anhui Province's Bengbu City, lend credence to these concerns. Between 2017 and 2018, six defendants, including four doctors, were convicted of deceiving families and illegally harvesting organs from at least 11 patients. 'China's organ transplant industry, driven by the Communist Party's ideology, has evolved into a vast commercial enterprise,' Huang said. 'These cases show it has become an unregulated beast, with rampant, unchecked organ harvesting.'
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Troubleshooters sent into wildlife charity linked to Carrie Johnson
Troubleshooters have been sent in to investigate a charity linked to Boris Johnson's wife following claims that its funds were used improperly by the multimillionaire socialite who runs it. The Charity Commission has appointed a team of high-powered legal experts to act as interim managers and take over key decision-making at the Aspinall Foundation, run by former casino owner Damian Aspinall. According to the watchdog's code of conduct, interim managers are imposed on a charity when it believes there has been 'mismanagement and/or misconduct'. It defines misconduct as any 'criminal, unlawful or improper' act. The Aspinall Foundation is a global conservation group that releases zoo animals back into the wild, working with its sister charity the Howletts Wild Animal Trust, which runs two wildlife parks in Kent. Both charities have been under the Charity Commission's spotlight for five years, with a statutory inquiry launched in 2021. Its latest decision to send troubleshooters into the Aspinall Foundation over 'fresh issues of concern' marks a major tightening of the screw. Carrie Johnson was recruited by the Aspinall Foundation in January 2021 in a senior communications role on an estimated 'high five-figure salary' when her partner Mr Johnson, whom she married in May that year, was prime minister. Mr Johnson has been one of the charity's highest-profile cheerleaders. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by either of the Johnsons. The allegations against the Aspinall Foundation include allowing its chair, Mr Aspinall, to rent its headquarters, Howletts House – a neo-Palladian, 30-bedroom mansion in Kent, set in a 90-acre estate – for £2,500 a month, equivalent to the typical cost of renting a large house in nearby Canterbury. The rent was increased to £10,000 a month after a revaluation. Other allegations include paying £150,000 to Mr Aspinall's wife, Victoria, for 'interior design', as well as making loans to Mr Aspinall. In 2019, he reportedly owed the foundation £113,000. Allegations made against the Howletts Wild Animal Trust include paying Mr Aspinall's step mother Lady Sarah Aspinall a £30,000-a-year pension for 'gardening services'. In a statement to The Independent, the Charity Commission said: 'Our inquiry into the Aspinall Foundation is ongoing. Towards the end of last year, fresh issues of concern were identified requiring us to embark on a further phase of investigation, and our investigators are working hard to pursue these at pace. 'The commission has now appointed interim managers to the Aspinall Foundation, who will work alongside the existing trustees on specific areas in line with the charity's governing document.' The Charity Commission only imposes interim managers on a charity 'if it is satisfied that there has been misconduct and/or mismanagement' and it is considered 'necessary to protect the charity's property'. Misconduct 'includes any act that the person committing it knew – or ought to have known – was criminal, unlawful or improper'. Mismanagement is defined as 'any act that may result in charitable resources being misused – or the people who benefit from the charity being put at risk'. The Charity Commission troubleshooters have been tasked with making any decisions that cannot be made by the trustees because of 'a conflict of interest', and with 'reviewing the make-up of the board of trustees'. Crucially, they have also been ordered to find out whether any of the trustees – or their family members – 'received a direct or indirect benefit from the charity'. Mr Aspinall's daughter Tansy is a trustee of both the Aspinall Foundation and Howletts Wild Animal Trust. Multimillionaire and Conservative peer Zac Goldsmith, a former minister and a close friend of Mr Aspinall and both the Johnsons, was an Aspinall trustee until August 2019. Lord Goldsmith's brother Ben, a Tory donor who was given an advisory post in Mr Johnson's government, was also an Aspinall Foundation trustee. Both left before the Charity Commission launched any inquiries. A spokesperson for the Aspinall Foundation said: 'We welcome the inquiry by the Charity Commission and will continue to work with them transparently, but until that has concluded we are unable to comment further to press.' A spokesperson for the Howletts Wild Animal Trust said: 'With the Charity Commission's inquiry ongoing, we are unable to comment further.' Carrie Johnson could not be contacted. The Aspinall Foundation declined to say whether she is still an employee.
The Hill
9 hours ago
- The Hill
Americans' becoming more aware of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy: Survey
The number of U.S. adults that are aware of GLP-1 drugs used for weight loss, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, has jumped significantly in the last few years, a new survey shows. The YouGov poll, released Friday, shows that at least 80 percent of respondents have heard at least 'a little bit' about semaglutide, a medication used to treat Type 2 diabetes that also helps a user to shed weight. In March 2023, only 60 percent of Americans were aware of the drug. A year later, in March 2024, that number had jumped to 70 percent, the pollster noted. The latest survey also shows that the share of those who have heard 'a lot' about the medication has nearly doubled since 2023, increasing to 41 percent from 23 percent. Just 36 percent of respondents say they know someone who has taken semaglutide. Around 14 percent listed a family member took the medicine, 16 percent named a friend, 11 percent identified an acquaintance and 7 percent said they had taken it themselves, according to the poll. Several also noted they knew a user in more than one category. Women are more likely than men, 43 percent to 29 percent, to know someone — including themselves — who has taken a GLP-1 agonist drug, per the survey. The weight loss medications — including Wegovy, Ozempic, Zepbound and others — have been available since 2005 but have only in the past few years been used to treat obesity. The drugs work by mimicking a hormone in the body — glucagon-like peptide-1 — that stimulates insulin secretion and reduces appetite. Possible side effects of taking the medication include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and constipation. While semaglutide is currently only prescribed for weight loss or treating diabetes, early research is pointing to possible benefits for a host of other issues, including treatment for addiction, neurodegenerative diseases and conditions that affect the heart, kidney or liver. The latest survey found that roughly a quarter of respondents said they would be 'very' or 'somewhat' interested in taking the medication as a weight loss treatment. About a third of Americans have either taken the drug or said they would be interested in trying it. On the other side, about 17 percent said they were 'not very' interested in the medication and 45 percent signaled they were not at all interested. A separate poll from last September found that around a quarter of adults in the U.S. would consider using weight loss medications without consulting their doctor. The YouGov analysis is based on an online survey conducted from May 22-25 among 1,109 adults in the U.S. The margin of error for the full sample is 4 percentage points.
