Southeast European Times in Pristina
written by Linda Karadaku
Tuesday May 7, 2013
A recent case on illegal organ transplants in Kosovo has analysts calling for more government control over the process in order to stop criminal activity.
Five Kosovars were sentenced to 20 years in prison for their involvement in illegal transplants in a local clinic called MEDICUS. The five were sentenced on charges that included organised crime, trafficking in persons and grievous bodily harm.
Kosovo does not have a law on organ transplants, and MEDICUS has a license only for cardiology services.
"The ministry of health has drafted a law on the transplant of organs and the law on the transplant of tissues and cells, and both bills have passed the first review in the assembly. They are expected to get through the second review and be approved by the Assembly, thus filling a legal gap in this area in Kosovo," Faik Hoti, a spokesperson for the health ministry, told SETimes.
According to experts, the case highlights the need for the control of doctor licenses and state oversight of the transplant procedure.
"The whole issue is how to have transplants under legal control. I believe this case is more about the state instruments and the necessary license for the doctors that are doing transplants. People in need will always ask for solutions for their health problems. It will be probably more difficult to make transplants in Kosovo, but it will not stop…" Beqaj told SETimes.
Tome Gashi, a lawyer in Kosovo, said that the transplant process in Kosovo will change after the law is approved in parliament.
"It will make transplants much more difficult in Kosovo, there will be much more control on them. It will be very difficult to convince people for the legal transplants as well after the law is approved. Even after the law is approved, there will be strict and rigorous controls on them. The [MEDICUS] verdict will have negative impact on the issue of transplants in general," Gashi told SETimes.
More than 80 witnesses gave their testimony in more than 100 court proceedings on transplants done by MEDICUS in 2008. More than 20 illegal transplants were done in the clinic, which was closed after the initial investigation started.
Donors, who were mainly foreign, were lured with false promises that they would be given up to 15,000 euros for a kidney. The transplants were done for amounts of money that went up to 100,000 euros.
EULEX Prosecutor Jonathan Ratel said the donors were left without medical treatment after the organ was harvested. "In many cases, no payments were made at all," Ratel told a press conference.
"Let's hope that [this] verdict and judgment will be positively viewed as bringing justice and security for the victims in this matter," Ratel said.
"Until [the] flaws [in the procedure] are corrected in all instances, there will be clinics that will feel free to violate the law. However, the verdict will make them think twice," Ardian Arifaj, a senior researcher for Kosovo Institute Kipred, told SETimes. "Kosovo government authorities and Kosovo justice must show that they are committed to combating these phenomena as any other European country."
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