wots a little execution, when its my beauty we are talkin here!

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Revlon green is people! its people!

 

The beauty products from the skin of executed Chinese prisoners

 

· Cosmetics firm targets UK market ·

Lack of regulation puts users at risk

 

Ian Cobain and Adam Luck

Tuesday September 13, 2005

The Guardian

 

 

A Chinese cosmetics company is using skin harvested from the corpses of executed

convicts to develop beauty products for sale in Europe, an investigation by the

Guardian has discovered.

Agents for the firm have told would-be customers it is developing collagen for

lip and wrinkle treatments from skin taken from prisoners after they have been

shot. The agents say some of the company's products have been exported to the

UK, and that the use of skin from condemned convicts is " traditional " and

nothing to " make such a big fuss about " .

 

 

Article continues

 

 

 

With European regulations to control cosmetic treatments such as collagen not

expected for several years, doctors and politicians say the discovery highlights

the dangers faced by the increasing number of Britons seeking to improve their

looks. Apart from the ethical concerns, there is also the potential risk of

infection.

MPs on the Commons select health committee are to examine the regulatory system

and may launch an investigation and question ministers about the need for

immediate new controls. " I am sure that the committee will want to look at

this, " said Kevin Barron, its Labour chairman. " This is something everyone in

society will be very concerned about. "

 

Plastic surgeons are also concerned about the delay in introducing regulations

to control the cosmetic treatments industry. Norman Waterhouse, a former

president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, said: " I am

surprised that we are taking the lead from the European commission, because this

is bound to delay action on this important area which is increasingly a matter

for concern. It seems like a bit of a cop out to me. "

 

It is unclear whether any of the " aesthetic fillers " such as collagen available

in the UK or on the internet are supplied by the company, which cannot be

identified for legal reasons. It is also unclear whether collagen made from

prisoners' skin is in the research stage or is in production. However, the

Guardian has learned that the company has exported collagen products to the UK

in the past. An agent told customers it had also exported to the US and European

countries, and that it was trying to develop fillers using tissue from aborted

foetuses.

 

Traditional

 

When formally approached by the Guardian, the agent denied the company was using

skin harvested from executed prisoners. However, he had already admitted it was

doing precisely this during a number of conversations with a researcher posing

as a Hong Kong businessman. The Press Complaints Commission's code of practice

permits subterfuge if there is no other means of investigating a matter of

public interest.

 

The agent told the researcher: " A lot of the research is still carried out in

the traditional manner using skin from the executed prisoner and aborted

foetus. " This material, he said, was being bought from " bio tech " companies

based in the northern province of Heilongjiang, and was being developed

elsewhere in China.

 

He suggested that the use of skin and other tissues harvested from executed

prisoners was not uncommon. " In China it is considered very normal and I was

very shocked that western countries can make such a big fuss about this, " he

said. Speaking from his office in northern China, he added: " The government has

put some pressure on all the medical facilities to keep this type of work in low

profile. "

 

The agent said his company exported to the west via Hong Kong. " We are still in

the early days of selling these products, and clients from abroad are quite

surprised that China can manufacture the same human collagen for less than 5% of

what it costs in the west. " Skin from prisoners used to be even less expensive,

he said. " Nowadays there is a certain fee that has to be paid to the court. "

 

The agent's admission comes after an inquiry into the cosmetic surgery industry

in Britain, commissioned by the Department of Health, pointed to the need for

new regulations controlling collagen treatments. Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief

medical officer, has highlighted the inquiry's concerns about the use of

cadavers for cosmetic treatments. " Cosmetic procedures are a rapidly growing

area of private health care, " he said. " We must ensure we properly protect

patients' safety by improving the training and regulation. "

 

The DoH has agreed to the inquiry's recommendations, but is waiting for the

European commission to draw up proposals for laws governing cosmetic products.

It could be several years before this legislation takes force.

 

Meanwhile, cosmetic treatments, including those with with aesthetic fillers, are

growing rapidly in popularity, with around 150,000 injections or implants

administered each year in the UK. Lip enhancement treatments are one of the most

popular, costing an average of £170.

 

Some fillers are made from cattle or pig tissue, and others from humans. The DoH

believes that there may be a risk of transmission of blood-borne viruses and

even vCJD from collagen containing human tissue. Although there is as yet no

evidence that this has happened, the inquiry found that some collagen injections

had triggered inflammatory reactions causing permanent discomfort, scarring and

disfigurement. In their report, the inquiry team said that if there was a risk,

" action should be taken to protect patient safety through regulation " .

 

While new regulations are to be drawn up, the department is currently powerless

to regulate most human-tissue fillers intended for injection or implant, as they

occupy a legal grey area. Most products are not governed by regulations

controlling medical products, as they are not classified as medicines. They also

escape cosmetics regulations, which only apply to substances used on the surface

of the skin and not those injected beneath it. The Healthcare Commission is

planning new regulations for cosmetic surgery clinics next year, but these will

not control the substances used by plastic surgeons.

 

Hand transplants

 

A number of plastic surgeons have told the Guardian that they have been hearing

rumours about the use of tissue harvested from executed prisoners for several

years.

 

Peter Butler, a consultant plastic surgeon and government adviser, said there

had been rumours that Chinese surgeons had performed hand transplants using

hands from executed prisoners. One transplant centre was believed to be adjacent

to an execution ground. " I can see the utility of it, as they have access and no

ethical objection, " he said. " The main concern would be infective risk. "

 

Andrew Lee of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who has visited

China to examine transplant techniques, said he had heard similar rumours.

 

Manufacturers of aesthetic fillers said they had seen Chinese collagen products

on sale at trade fairs, but had not seen any labelled Chinese-made in the UK.

Dan Cohen, whose US-based company, Inamed, produces collagen products, said: " We

have come across Chinese products in the market place. But most products from

China are being sold 'off-label' or are being imported illegally. "

 

In China, authorities deny that prisoners' body parts are harvested without

their consent. However, there is some evidence to suggest it may be happening.

 

In June 2001, Wang Guoqi, a Chinese former military physician, told US

congressmen he had worked at execution grounds helping surgeons to harvest the

organs of more than 100 executed prisoners, without prior consent. The surgeons

used converted vans parked near the execution grounds to begin dissecting the

bodies, he told the house international relations committee's human rights

panel.

 

Skin was said to be highly valued for the treatment of burn victims, and Dr Wang

said that in 1995 he skinned a shot convict's body while the man's heart was

still beating. Dr Wang, who was seeking asylum in the US, also alleged that

corneas and other body tissue were removed for transplant, and said his

hospital, the Tianjin paramilitary police general brigade hospital, sold body

parts for profit.

 

Human rights activists in China have repeatedly claimed that organs have been

harvested from the corpses of executed prisoners and sold to surgeons offering

transplants to fee-paying foreigners.

 

Dr Wang's allegations infuriated the Chinese authorities, and in a rare move

officials publicly denounced him as a liar. The government said organs were

transplanted from executed prisoners only if they and their family gave consent.

 

Although the exact number of people facing the death penalty in China is an

official secret, Amnesty International believes around 3,400 were executed last

year, with a further 6,000 on death row.

 

What is it?

 

Collagen is a major structural protein found in abundance in skin, bones,

tendons and other connective tissue. Matted sheets of collagen give skin its

toughness and by winding into molecular " cables " , it adds strength to tendons.

 

What is it used for?

 

Collagen injections are used in cosmetic surgery to plump up lips and flatten

out wrinkles. After botox, collagen injections are the second-most popular

cosmetic operations in Britain. Collagen does not have a permanent effect and

several injections are often needed.

 

What else is it good for?

 

Collagen was being put to good use as far back as the stone age. Neolithic cave

dwellers around the Dead Sea are believed to have used it as a primitive form of

glue some 8,000 years ago. More recently, researchers have developed a form that

can be poured or injected into wounds to seal them.

 

Where does it come from?

 

A number of sources. Some companies extract it from cow skin and treat it to

minimise the risk of allergic reactions or infection. Others collect it from

human donors or extract cells from the patient before growing the necessary

amount in a laboratory.

 

Is it safe?

 

Collagen can cause allergic reactions if it has not been treated correctly, and

there is a theoretical risk of disease being passed on. A small amount of

collagen is often injected into the skin a few weeks before treatment to test

for possible allergic reactions. Earlier this year, Sir Liam Donaldson warned

that collagen injections could spread conditions such as hepatitis and variant

CJD, the human form of mad cow disease.

 

 

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can still do

something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the

something that I can do.