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The steady stream of Canadians who continue to buy organs overseas are not only propping up a morally dubious trade, but putting their own lives at serious, long-term risk, suggests a new study.

One of the lead authors says the findings offer more reason why the federal government should make participating in transplant tourism a criminal offence.

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People who obtained a kidney transplant outside Canada, then returned for after-care at a Toronto hospital, were three to four times as likely to die or lose the organ as those transplanted here, the researchers found.

And they brought home some nasty souvenirs, including potentially deadly cases of hepatitis and tuberculosis, says the study.

It’s believed Canadians seek out transplants overseas because of long wait lists here and the fear of dying before a donor becomes available. Kidneys are by far the most commonly transplanted organ.