Dying for a Kidney:  Can Anyone Stop The Burgeoning Black Market in Human Organs?

Image showing the human trunk with positions of the organs.

It’s practically an urban legend:  A man blacks out after meeting a woman for a drink at a bar. When he comes to, he finds himself naked in a hotel bathtub covered with ice.  And there’s a throbbing ache in his side.  A hand-scrawled sign blares the bad news:  “Go to the ER right away!”

He suddenly realizes:  His kidney is gone.

It rarely happens that way anymore, but there’s reason to fear illegal organ harvesting.