Review: The Red Market: On the Trail of the World's Organ Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers, and Child Traffickers

The Red Market: On the Trail of the World's Organ Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers, and Child Traffickers by Scott Carney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I wouldn't call it a fun read, not like Mary Roach's Stiff, but it is significant. Someone has to think about where bodies and their parts come from, and how best to limit coercion. And really, as long as there is money to be made, from selling blood, from international adoption fees, from skeletons to hang in classrooms, from kidney transplants, etc., then there is the possibility of things going very badly wrong. Sunshine, says Carney, and transparency, these are the keys to having a system which functions without abuse. I'm not convinced that they will do anything much without an international effort to respect and defend human rights, but they won't hurt in the meantime.

Updated 12/8/14: China to End Organ Harvesting From Executed Inmates

Library copy.

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