BLOODY BUSINESS

In a disused courtyard in central China one evening in February, undercover journalists from The Paper met a human placenta dealer who showed them 20 fresh placentae, some still dripping with blood. He claimed he could get 500 pieces each month from hospitals, medical waste processing plants, and middlemen.

Dried placenta is a traditional Chinese remedy for conditions such as breathing trouble and infertility, which are said to be related to a lack of qi and blood. Though health authorities have forbidden the sale of human placentae since 2005, the business is flourishing due to a lack of relevant national laws and regulations on its use.

Blood-borne diseases such as Hepatitis C and HIV may be spread with this illegal trade—as one processer commented to the journalists, “I can guarantee the products are genuine, but not what they might contain.” A vendor told The Paper they heard that authorities may be cracking down on the trade, but as long as there’s demand,

“I’ll just go to Vietnam [to get the products].”