Gloria Bejarano, PUSC, Yolanda Acuna and Victor Hernandez, the PAC approved the new law on organ donation and transplantation. The plan aims to streamline the administration protocols of donations. | ALEX CARAVACA.
Representatives approved in the first debate, a bill to regulate the donation and transplantation of organs and human tissue in Costa Rica. The new law would repeal a previous 1994 law, provides for a record of both donors and recipients, also sets clearer delivery procedures.
The legislation also provides greater administrative controls to prevent illegal organ trafficking, and prohibits giving gifts or payments of any kind in exchange for the delivery of human parts. Advertising to solicit organs is also banned. Those who traffic in human organs would face criminal charges that provide for 8 to 16 years imprisonment.
In October of last year, police arrested several suspects on charges for organ trafficking. The Mexican newspaper El Universal published an article, which identified Costa Rica as a tourist destination for wealthy individuals in need of an organ. Classified ads in Costa Rica have offered to pay prices up to ¢100 million for a kidney.