Man sells kidney for iPad, iPhone

An Atlanta woman enjoys her iPad while her dog enjoys Piedmont Park. (AJC Photo/John Spink)

If you’re anything like me, you’ve often wondered how much a redundant internal organ would fetch on the open market.

In China, the answer is about $4,000.

Defendants in an illegal organ transplant trial cut that deal with 17-year-old Wang Shangkun, who used some of the money to buy an iPad and iPhone, reports the China Daily.

The gang that obtained the kidney was able to sell it for about $33,000. The article does not say what the gang paid a military surgeon to remove the kidney.

Wang, who is in poor health after the 2011 surgery, has been unable to attend the trial.

But his mother told the judge his sad tale.

“My son was tempted by the illegal organ traders and might have been afraid of getting caught with such a large amount of money, so he bought a cell phone and a tablet PC,” she says in the China Daily.

The black market for organs has no trouble finding sellers.

China’s Ministry of Public Security said 137 suspects were caught in a July crackdown on human organ trafficking. More than 120 “organ donors” were “rescued” from elective surgery, according to the China Daily article.