JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Investigators say that an international healthcare company ran an illegal kidney transplant operation out of hospitals in South Africa.
Netcare and its chief executive, Dr. Richard Friedland, were charged Wednesday along with five doctors who allegedly performed transplants using kidneys purchased from poor Brazilians and Romanians, The Guardian reported. The charges include fraud, serious assault, organized crime and forgery.
Investigators said Netcare began transplanting kidneys obtained in Brazil and Romania into Israeli recipients at St. Augustine's Hospital in Durban. The alleged motive was money -- Israeli kidneys cost $20,000 compared to $6,000 in the other countries.
Forged paperwork indicted the transplanted kidneys came from relatives of the recipients, the charge sheet said.
UPI
