(Ecns.cn)--The China Marrow Donor Program (CMDP), a public welfare organization under the leadership of the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC), came under fire after a Web user tagged "Bofeng" posted an article on June 28 alleging that the CMDP was charging fees from patients who needed bone marrow transplants.
"On TV they claim that people can donate bone marrow stem cells to the CMDP, which will go to patients for free once they find a match. How noble!" Bofeng wrote. "But in fact, patients must pay 500 yuan (US$77.3) just for a consultation, and another 50,000 yuan (US$7,730) if it (the CMDP) finds a match for the transplant."
Hong Junling, the CMDP's director, shot back on Sunday, saying the program had never charged "even one cent" during the matching process.
"The CDMP has fallen victim to an irresponsible web article, which was written without verification," Hong said.
The article caused a stir on the Internet as the Red Cross, CMDP's parent organization, struggles to recover its credibility following the gaffe of 20-year-old Guo Meimei, a self-claimed general manager of "Red Cross Commerce" who posted photos on her microblog displaying a lavish lifestyle.
Unlike that incident, in which netizens unanimously pointed the finger at the Red Cross, Bofeng's article has sparked an intense debate on whether or not to trust the CMDP.
"I should quit as a voluntary donor to the organization," one person commented.
"Bofeng wrote his blog based on nothing, no evidence. People will die if they don't get live-saving stem cells," another one wrote in disagreement.
"It costs 500 yuan for each of the 1.28 million stem cell donations that the CDMP stores," Hong added, "but the cost is covered by special funds raised by the Ministry of Finance through selling charity lottery tickets."
However, Hong admitted that the CDMP does charge a test fee of 20,000 yuan (US$3,092) on behalf of the hospitals that conduct secondary match tests for transplant patients.
"We only conduct free preliminary match tests, which is not enough for transplantation," Hong said. "It is the hospital that charges the 20,000 yuan. The CDMP only collects the fee."
"The fee serves as a deposit to cover donor expenses, and the rest of it is returned to the transplant receiver," he added.
After reading Bofeng's blog, many patients who had received bone marrow stem cell transplants vouched for Hong's words.
Mrs Zhao's husband, Mr. Li, suffered from leukemia and underwent surgery after the CDMP found a match for him. She said they did not pay anything for consultation or match finding.
"We did pay the hospital 20,000 yuan for further testing, but 5,600 yuan (US$865.8) was returned to us after the surgery," she said. "I did not know it was for the donor's sake."
Mr. Liu, a donor who lives in Beijing, said he received a subsidy to cover his expenses, including one week leave from work, meals and nutritional supplements.
"They told me not to worry about personal expenses during the donation, so I thought the CDMP would cover it," he said.
Some did not approve of Bofeng’s behavior.
"Lots of people in China have misunderstandings about bone marrow donation, but the article just made the situation worse," a netizen tagged Dajietou said.
