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Concerns for patients heading overseas for organ transplants

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Doctors' hands extract organs from a patient's stomach
Surgeons extract the liver and kidneys of a brain-dead woman for organ transplant donation at the UKB hospital in Berlin, Germany.(Fabrizio Bensch: Reuters)

It's estimated that one Australian every six weeks buys a human organ on the black market.

Patients travel overseas for transplant surgeries and return with infections and other complications, putting pressure on the health system.

A parliamentary inquiry has now recommended mandatory reporting for doctors who suspect their patients have left the country to buy an organ.

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Professor Jeremy Chapman, head, Renal Department, Westmead Hospital

Professor Angela Webster, kidney transplant specialist

Professor Toby Coates, director of kidney transplantation, Royal Adelaide Hospital

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