SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
In April 2011, 17 year old Wang Shangkunsold a kidney to buy an iPhone. When asked why he did this, the man said “Why do I need a second kidney? One is enough,”.
The man subsequently developed complications and now needs regular dialysis to survive. The complications may have been caused by a lack of post operative care. The doctors involved have been arrested.
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
Teen Bedridden for Life after Selling Kidney for an iPhone
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 62 comments
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
(1)
(1)
Facts are the enemy of truth.
-- Don Quixote
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday January 20 2019, @02:52PM (15 children)
I don't think there is anything more to be said.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 2019, @03:48PM (10 children)
well no. this is a case of insufficiently clear laws, and adults taking advantage of a 17 year old idiot.
don't blame the kid, blame the parents, the legal system, and the so-called doctors.
you can't expect a 17 year old to know better.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 2019, @04:37PM
Yes, you can expect that.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday January 20 2019, @04:40PM (3 children)
Yes, I can expect him to know better. Maybe YOU don't, but I do. Kids are generally permitted to drive a car at 16. Kids are generally allowed to hunt at 13. Kids routinely engage in sports that are potentially lethal while in elementary school. Kids are expected to be able to cross a street while in elementary school. Kids should know better than to undergo medical procedures without their parent's permission. Kids should know that allowing unknown people to hack off random bits of their anatomy might have undesirable consequences. Laws be damned, this one wasn't bright enough to live.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 2019, @10:21PM (2 children)
I certainly hope that I raise my own kids such that I can expect them not to sell body parts.
But no, I would not expect it from a 17 year old picked at random from the entire world.
For instance I assume there are at least hundreds of 17 year old hookers having unprotected sex with sailors that are probably not very cleanlooking; isn't that technically more dangerous? not just because of the possibly lethal STDs, but because of the drunken sailor getting angry and punching them into a coma.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday January 20 2019, @11:01PM
I was always more concerned about those fresh-faced young sailors having sex with random teen-aged prostitutes who aren't very clean looking. Crack whores can be dangerous! ;^)
And, I'm only half joking. We didn't lose any shipmates to prostitutes from either of my two ships, but it happens.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday January 21 2019, @08:46AM
Why? Meat industry is not gonna go bust sometime soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Sunday January 20 2019, @05:12PM
"you can't expect a 17 year old to know better."
Are you kidding me?
At 10, I knew better than to sell bits of my body for any reason at all - let alone to buy a fucking consumer electronics product. If you reckon it's normal for a 17 year old nowadays to think a kidney is worth selling, it says something truly sad about today's teenagers - or about your opinion of teenagers.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Sunday January 20 2019, @07:06PM (3 children)
He should have thought harder: "Hey, I have two brains, right? A right brain and a left brain! I'll just sell one of them!"
17 and that stupid...I guess anything is game.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 2019, @08:39PM
At least he was smart enough not to sell his Cornea or his hands.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Nuke on Sunday January 20 2019, @10:55PM
Why not go all the way and have yourself cut right down the middle? This would have had the makings of a Monty Python sketch.
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Monday January 21 2019, @03:09PM
Hey, I've got two testicles . . .
Would a Dyson sphere [soylentnews.org] actually work?
(Score: 2) by TheFool on Sunday January 20 2019, @05:17PM (2 children)
He's not dead, though, or even unable to reproduce - he's just bedridden. It's a bit horrible to say but in some ways that's worse.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 21 2019, @05:19AM
Good luck with the reproction part.
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Monday January 21 2019, @05:37PM
The perfect excuse to stay in bed all day and play Angry Birds on his iPhone.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0x663EB663D1E7F223
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 2019, @07:08PM
+1
(Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Sunday January 20 2019, @03:07PM (3 children)
In other news: selling your soul to the devil often has a bad outcome.
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 3, Funny) by BsAtHome on Sunday January 20 2019, @05:47PM (2 children)
Speak for yourself.
I've had plenty of good experience with develish agreements and soul deals. My source code has improved and my soul rhythm is of weeping beauty now.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Dr Spin on Sunday January 20 2019, @08:10PM
And you have an legit Oracle license?
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 3, Funny) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday January 20 2019, @08:38PM
You say that NOW, but wait until you see a few of your friends die fighting those witches. When your Soul Gem goes completely black you'll see...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 2019, @03:09PM (8 children)
His family was awarded $300k in compensation - that's probably more than he could earn his entire life. Plus, he enjoyed seven years with no complications.
This was not as bad a deal as TFA implies. And it's not much different, morally, from Western girls selling their eggs.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 2019, @03:12PM (3 children)
As women have eggs, and they expired on a regular basis, I would consider selling the excess kidneys too. In practice I wouldn't since that is giving someone a copy of your DNA and the right to exploit it, but for a sufficiently large sum of money that isn't the worst idea to get ahead in life, assuming you budget the resulting payment into a future for yourself.
(Score: 1, Redundant) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday January 20 2019, @03:27PM (2 children)
I would consider becoming a Sperm Donor. If the price was right. Some guys, unfortunately, do it very cheaply -- even for free. And even do it when nobody asked them to. Or wanted that. foxnews.com/health/23andme-genetic-test-reveals-disturbing-artificial-insemination-switch [foxnews.com]
But I know there are many Families out there that want to have the children of the most famous person ever. A guy with a 135 I.Q., very very rich, great athlete and a successful businessman. And that comes at a price. A high price -- but very fair. And totally worth it!!
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 2019, @03:43PM (1 child)
From what I hear, a sperm donor now is just another male the states will hound for child support. Some of my friends did it for $ in college, when anonymity was still kept, but I am happy now that I never went.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday January 21 2019, @03:17PM
I was amused that realDonaldTrump brags about being rich and implies that somehow makes his sperm more attractive to clients of a sperm bank.
Then you point out how sperm donation now comes with the strings of child support (aka, wealth transfer) attached.
On a different note, maybe "sperm donation" should work differently. The bank only keeps records of sperm donors and not actual sperm. (But not collecting sperm takes all the fun out of it for the donors.) Then couples or persons seeking good candidates from a sperm bank are put into contact with the donor and suitable legal arrangements can be made, including, if all agree, that the donor has NO contact with, and no financial responsibility for any offspring. Or the opposite, that the donor has visitation rights and support responsibilities. Assuming any mutually satisfactory agreement can be reached.
Would a Dyson sphere [soylentnews.org] actually work?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 2019, @05:58PM (2 children)
He was lucky to get the compensation, it was awarded later, not part of the deal to sell his kidney. And it wasn't 7 years without complications, the article is light on detail, it was 7 years later his remaining kidney failed, but no doubt the complications started before that.
If he got $300k and no complications, maybe it would have been worth it, but as it is, he'll have difficulty working in his condition, and most of the money he got would likely be taken up by his living expenses and medical care.
He isn't necessarily stupid for selling his kidney, but he is for selling it so cheaply.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 2019, @08:41PM (1 child)
Now he can afford a couple of new ones!
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Sunday January 20 2019, @10:51PM
At $20,000 each retail he could have a dozen new kidneys installed, allowing for the cost of the surgery. That should take care of things, although they won't do much for his figure.
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Monday January 21 2019, @05:30PM
I wonder how many months of dialysis 300K can buy.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0x663EB663D1E7F223
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 2019, @03:11PM
someone check the time servers: mr. jobs needed that kidney 3 year ago, dude!
(Score: 3, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday January 20 2019, @03:12PM (3 children)
And have him look over the contract. Or write a much better one. So you know what you're getting into. Because there are a lot of Crooked Doctors out there.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 2019, @09:54PM (1 child)
RTFA
He sold the kidney to the local mob
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday January 20 2019, @10:34PM
I don't know from China. But over here, a lot of what the Mob does is illegal. But a lot of it is totally legal. And a Lawyer can tell which is which. And can tell when a Contract isn't in your interest. And by the way, when you're dealing with the Mob, they don't always say, "oh, we're from the Mob, we want to enter into an Illegal (and very unfair) Contract with you." The article says it. But possibly they didn't say that to Wang. Be careful what you sign. And actually, even the Lawyer isn't 100%. He can check the legal. But you can't count on him for the medical. So you want to ask another Doctor. Otherwise known as the 2nd. Opinion. So you go, you talk to the other Doctor, you pay the money. The 2nd. Opinion is the same as the 1st. And you're thinking, "oh, bring out the knife, I'm good to go!" WRONG. You have to be very careful. Because so many times, they know each other. They went to the same Conference. They were classmates. Or even worse, one of them trained the other, or they were roomates. They stick together. It's not easy!
(Score: 2) by turgid on Monday January 21 2019, @10:50PM
Or have it done on the NHS.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 2019, @06:00PM
I read this story and laughed.
Meh, I can live with that..
(Score: 5, Informative) by AndyTheAbsurd on Sunday January 20 2019, @06:18PM (3 children)
There's a couple of things wrong with this story.
Being on dialysis does not mean that you're bedridden for life. My wife is on dialysis; she's been on dialysis for eight years. She gets up and walks around just fine. Yes, it sucks; she sits in a chair for four hours at a stretch, three times a week, with giant needles going into her arm so that blood can be removed, processed by the dialysis machine, and returned, but when that's done, she gets up, walks out of the dialysis clinic, and comes home.
So there's something else going on, which the reports have completely failed to address - which is just bad reporting. If they didn't know what the process of dialysis was like, they should have investigated it - and would have found that many patients do walk in and out on their own, which would have led them to dig deeper.
Please note my username before responding. You may have been trolled.
(Score: 2) by zocalo on Sunday January 20 2019, @06:50PM (1 child)
One thing it doesn't seem to be is overstating his case related to the payout; that was awarded back in 2012, so it seems doubtful there is much reason to be making out his condition is worse than it is at this point in time.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 2019, @09:29PM
He is bedridden now, but not from dialysis. He is suffering from MODS since the surgery. This was caused by sepsis, which was caused by an infection he picked up, which was caused by bad post-operative care. The story conflated the bedridden state with having to have dialysis, when both those conditions stem from the same thing, not one causing the other. This probably arose from the particular author of this article, and the ones that are based on it, not understanding the difference.
(Score: 2) by wirelessduck on Monday January 21 2019, @01:07AM
The story is from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, so unsurprising that the "journalist" hasn't done their research.
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Sunday January 20 2019, @06:53PM (1 child)
I wonder how the story would have played out if the operation was not botched.
We do need to keep in mind that both he and the doctors are criminals for participating in the organ trade (I'm actually not sure if he is... not a layer). Commercial sales of organs is still a major discussion point, particularly when it comes to kidneys as you only need one to live. I personally support keeping all commercial organ trades illegal, but I understand it is a very complex issue. Most other comments on this article is insulting this guy for a stupid decision, so I want to highlight that the decision he made is a complex one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_trade [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday January 20 2019, @07:04PM
His logic is sound? Let's consider that for a moment. In view of the fact that he went behind his parent's back, he apparently knew that his parents would never approve. Any sort of decent logic would make it obvious that parents would consider the deal too risky, and/or inadequately compensated. He chose to sneak around behind his parent's back, apparently knowing there were risks. He took those risks, despite available superior wisdom.
This is no different from the son who gets shitfaced, then drives the family car under a tractor trailer - with or without a bunch of buddies in the car with him. The kid is injured badly, possibly maimed for life, maybe even dead, dead, dead. Each of his friends who decided to ride with him run the same risks, of course.
Logic says, "I may get away with this, but there are most certainly risks involved. It's probably not worth it."
The fact is, kids don't use logic very often, when they are getting into trouble. In this case, TFA says the boy wanted to show off to his friends. No logic, or very poor logic.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by SomeGuy on Sunday January 20 2019, @07:05PM (5 children)
Around here consumertards commit various crimes and do stupid things all the time just to get "iPhones". There have been a number of reports of people shooting and killing people just for a fucking iPhone. Either that or giant-ass flat screen TVs.
This story took place in 2011, but I'm not seeing much of a decline in how stupid people are when it comes to genuinely believing that that they absolutely MUST have an iPhone/Smartphone/Tablet at all costs. The advertising works. And don't forget to download our **free** news/weather app that requires a purchase of a new Smarphone!
No, you don't want an "iPhone". You probably don't need one either. Keep your kidney.
Did anyone every sell a body part to buy an IBM PC 5150? :P (Imagines a parallel universe where IBM made smartphones and only business people bought them if they really needed them. They would run OS/2).
(Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Sunday January 20 2019, @08:14PM
Imagines a parallel universe where IBM made smartphones and only business people bought them if they really needed them. They would run OS/2
OS/2 phones would stille be better than Windows phones, even if OS/2 really meant half-an-os (you could argue, for many years, it did).
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Hyper on Sunday January 20 2019, @09:56PM (2 children)
Back in the day you could be mugged for your running shoes.
Yes, seriously. Shoes. Granted they cod have cost $100 to $300. You have to wonder.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 2019, @10:27PM
A couple of years ago around these parts there was a teenage boy that attempted an armed robbery of a thirty-something coming out of the mall. He had seen him inside purchasing some of those $300 sneakers you mentioned. What the kid did not know was that this particular man had a concealed carry permit and his poor judgment cost him his life. The man will forever have to live with the fact that he send a kid to the morgue, but otherwise faced no criminal prosecution. Given the entirety of the circumstances, the kid was most likely on a fast track career path to be a violent criminal anyway so it was probably only a matter of time for him to gamble and lose.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 2019, @10:30PM
Only if you were a ghetto dweller. Otherwise, no mugging. That's why USA prefers to keep their criminally-inclined populations in ghettos.
(Score: 1) by EEMac on Monday January 21 2019, @03:31PM
At least one of our friends, and all of our nephews, have fully bought into the "must upgrade phone NOW" message. When they learned we had phones that were (gasp) two and three years old respectively, each of them said, word-for-word: "You have to upgrade."
It was a knee-jerk reaction. There was literally no thought behind it. They truly believed, all the way to the core, that we had to upgrade RIGHT NOW. For . . . reasons.
Evidently marketing works.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by iamjacksusername on Sunday January 20 2019, @09:57PM
I'm a dyed-in-the-wool libertarian. I believe in personal and bodily autonomy. I believe that your body is your own, to do with as you please. However, the sale of organs is one place where I believe the notion of complete bodily autonomy breaks down. It is very simple: the demand for organs will always so outstrip the supply that the middlemen will always be the ones who profit. The organs will come from the most vulnerable of our society: young, poor, and desperate people who will trade a moment's relief for a lifetime of pain.
I do not think a market mechanism will be able to adequately regulate it; as soon as their is a legal outlet, institutions will spring into action to ensure a steady, low-cost supply of expandable people. The notion that there is an underclass who exists solely to supply the wealthy with replacement organs will be actively denied but tacitly accepted by society as the middle-class will also receive some benefit. Then, the practice will be institutionalized for the next generation.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday January 20 2019, @10:33PM (2 children)
-!
My surgeon for late october's Radical Nephrotomy of my right kidney quiet sternly _warned_ me to "Take good care of your one remaining kidney!"
That I've had chronically high blood pressure for by now a year and a half is _quite_ a problem, as the _specific_ reason High Blood Pressure as known as "The Silent Killer" is that it will _destroy_ one's kidneys with absolutely _no_ noticeable system until it is far far too late them save them.
For my High BP to persist would lead to the Nephrectomy of my _other_ kidney. As I waited my - dead - donor on the Transplant List, my only hope for survival would be dialysis every three or four days. I could very well be on dialysis for the rest of my days.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 21 2019, @01:04AM (1 child)
I also just have one kidney. Had kidney cancer, they caught very early it while looking for something else, so removal of the kidney removed all the cancer. Happy ending.
Not entirely happy. When they take your kidney out, they take out the lymph nodes that hook up to your kidney as well. A small percentage of people who have lymph nodes removed will get lymphedema. That's caused by the lymphatic fluid no longer circulating through the body correctly, and fluid collects in a limb. Think elephantiasis. So I'll wear compression stockings on my legs and do physical therapy for my legs an hour a day for the rest of my life. Beats being dead. Most days.
Whenever I hear someone say "you can live perfectly fine with just one kidney", I want to beat the crap out of them. Sure, you can, as in it's within the realm of possibility, but it doesn't mean you will.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday January 21 2019, @06:02AM
Praise The Baby Jesus that I walk everywhere, I have may have seizures and do not.
I'll come up with the money to join a gym even if I have to knock over a liquor store.
THANK YOU for your warning AC. Were it that your warning not to have been the result of your great pain. :-(
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Sunday January 20 2019, @10:37PM (1 child)
iPhones, so valuable people are selling their kidneys to get one!
Special offer: Trade a kidney for a new iPhone before April 1, 2019, and you'll receive a free iPhone holster, custom designed to fit in the hole in your back where your kidney used to be. Hurry, supplies are limited!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 21 2019, @02:03AM
A kidney? I thought they only cost an arm and a leg. Must be a new model.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Sunday January 20 2019, @10:40PM (1 child)
I was wondering recently if I should sell my Apple stock. Yes, they're sitting on $100 billion in cash, but Tim Cook seems like a guy who had any vestige of vision surgically removed from his body.
Then I see tragic stories like this and figure I should hold onto the shares a little longer.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 21 2019, @08:06AM
As pointed out in the comments and the summary itself, the story is from 2011.
Apple is going down in flames in 2019.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 20 2019, @11:28PM (1 child)
And some people honestly want to lower voting age to 16. Are you fucking kidding me?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 21 2019, @01:19AM
This story nicely illustrates exactly why these people want to lower the voting age, these stupid little fuckwits are even more gullible and fall harder and a hell of a lot easier for the 'ooooh shiny!' marketing approach of modern political bullshittery than the older generations tend to...well, at least, those generations up to the senescent one, like these young idiots they too uncritically believe some of the most outrageously asinine 'paper thin' BS that politicians spout and vote accordingly.
(For the record, I'm closer to senescence but can still tell when politicos are lying....my eyesight is failing but I can still see their lips move and despite the tinnitus I can still hear their weasel words...)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 21 2019, @02:12AM
Attention whore getting attention.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 21 2019, @03:01AM
He got a new iPhone, a good 7 years stretch, $300k AND now gets to stay in bed all day?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 21 2019, @01:57PM (2 children)
People here seem to be taking the wrong moral from this message. Everybody is saying he's stupid to have sold his kidney, and he is. But the idea that "OMG, why did he let somebody cut into him?" is not the problem. The exact same thing could be said for a kidney donor trying to save the life of somebody else.
Imagine if somebody were to buy a sell a house for $1. We'd say that's stupid, not because selling a house is stupid, but because the amount he sold it for is too low.
The issue isn't that the kid sold his kidney; it's that he sold it for such a dumb reason.
And now that I'm actually writing it out, is that really so bad? People "donate" kidneys all the time, for nothing more than the feel-good feeling of making somebody's life better. This kid got that, AND got an iPhone. It seems to me that from most perspectives, he's much more intelligent than kidney donors... unless I'm counting something wrong here?
(Obviously he wouldn't have chosen to get a post-operative infection, but could he have known that in advance? And why does your argument not apply to one of countless other "noble" kidney donors?)
(Score: 2) by Entropy on Monday January 21 2019, @04:16PM
I think the moral of the story might have been that when you have a black market operation, your post operative care(and operative care) is likely vastly inferior. So the safety of the entire procedure is likely quite a bit lower. ;)
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Tuesday January 22 2019, @02:52PM
Yes, he probably should have predicted the complications, and no it wouldn't be typical of other organ donors.
This is what happens when you don't get the proper medical care because you participate in illegal black market medical procedures. If he had followed the proper process as most donors do, he probably wouldn't be having such severe issues. In fact, he probably wouldn't have any issues at all, because a responsible doctor wouldn't let him take that risk just for a fucking phone that's gonna be obsolete a year or two later.
If someone bought two dozen laptop batteries from some guy in the alley for $2 each, would you be sitting here saying he couldn't possibly have predicted that those batteries might explode? It's not *guaranteed* to go wrong, sure, but you damn well know that's not brand new top quality hardware...even if the guy selling it claims it is.