The city medical fraternity is divided over whether the doctors involved in suspect transplant procedures could be involved directly or indirectly in the kidney racket, however most agree there is a need to revise the transplant rules. Some of them are even in favour of allowing kidney sale by donors, especially kidney, as the donor does not suffer any harm after the surgery and lead a normal healthy life.
Dr Ravi Wankhede, who has donated a kidney to his friend Dr Salim Chimthanwala, says that there is no harm in legalising donations. It will do away with such rackets, or at least minimise the possibilities, he said. "Of course, this should be done with certain safeguards in place," he says.
Speaking from his own experience, Dr Wankhede feels government and NGOs should put in more efforts to create awareness on kidney donation so that more people can come forward to donate kidneys willingly. He has himself successfully been able to motivate ten friends to donate kidneys.
Dr S Acharya, a nephrologist, admits that it is extremely difficult for doctors to check whether documents are forged. But he still feels it is the responsibility of the entire transplant team that no unlawful activity takes place. "It is the nephrologist and the urologists who are in regular touch with the patient and their relatives before and after the operation. To some extent, they can avoid such forgeries. Since the patient and donor are first evaluated by the transplant team and it is they who send the proposal to hospital authorisation committee, they should see whether they are genuinely related," stressed Dr Acharya.
Doctors also point out that it is difficult to get related donors due various reasons. The relative could be suffering from a disease like diabetes and hence cannot donate or the family could be a nuclear family and have no donor. This forces patients into illegal activities which benefit middlemen like Sunil Deshmukh and exploit the poor.
Dr Acharya says he and some Nagpur doctors have long been trying to form a zonal coordination committee for unrelated donors. "But the state government seems least interested," he said.
Dr Ashok Adhao, former president of Indian Medical Association, says the stringent organ donation and transplant rules too are to blame. "I am not justifying or supporting either the hospital administration or the doctors involved in the suspect surgery. However, the truth is that the laws ought to be donor as well patient-friendly. Faulty laws with loopholes which can be easily manipulated leave scope for such manipulation. The more you ban something, the more people find ways of doing that activity," he said.
Dr Prakash Khetan, the nephrologist who first attended to the patient for the suspect transplant, says he was cheated by Sunil Deshmukh, a former administrator at Suretech Hospital. "We need to be more careful and should send samples for testing ourselves. On our part, we had verified all documentation and also confirmed the reports from Mumbai by phone too," he said. Dr Khetan claims that the entire procedure from first seeing the patient to discharging the patient took a month.
Dr Dhananjay Ookhalkar, the second nephrologist in the team, feels that the system has serious loopholes which should be rectified to prevent such scams.
Dr Anil Shrikhande, the urosurgeon who performed the operation, says that his job was only technical. He said he performed the surgery but could not in any way check on credentials of relatives. "We have been cheated. This case is like an eye opener. Hospitals should send the samples and not the patients or their relatives for test. Other such loopholes should also be plugged," he said.
Dr Ravi Wankhede, who has donated a kidney to his friend Dr Salim Chimthanwala, says that there is no harm in legalising donations. It will do away with such rackets, or at least minimise the possibilities, he said. "Of course, this should be done with certain safeguards in place," he says.
Speaking from his own experience, Dr Wankhede feels government and NGOs should put in more efforts to create awareness on kidney donation so that more people can come forward to donate kidneys willingly. He has himself successfully been able to motivate ten friends to donate kidneys.
Dr S Acharya, a nephrologist, admits that it is extremely difficult for doctors to check whether documents are forged. But he still feels it is the responsibility of the entire transplant team that no unlawful activity takes place. "It is the nephrologist and the urologists who are in regular touch with the patient and their relatives before and after the operation. To some extent, they can avoid such forgeries. Since the patient and donor are first evaluated by the transplant team and it is they who send the proposal to hospital authorisation committee, they should see whether they are genuinely related," stressed Dr Acharya.
Doctors also point out that it is difficult to get related donors due various reasons. The relative could be suffering from a disease like diabetes and hence cannot donate or the family could be a nuclear family and have no donor. This forces patients into illegal activities which benefit middlemen like Sunil Deshmukh and exploit the poor.
Dr Acharya says he and some Nagpur doctors have long been trying to form a zonal coordination committee for unrelated donors. "But the state government seems least interested," he said.
Dr Ashok Adhao, former president of Indian Medical Association, says the stringent organ donation and transplant rules too are to blame. "I am not justifying or supporting either the hospital administration or the doctors involved in the suspect surgery. However, the truth is that the laws ought to be donor as well patient-friendly. Faulty laws with loopholes which can be easily manipulated leave scope for such manipulation. The more you ban something, the more people find ways of doing that activity," he said.
Dr Prakash Khetan, the nephrologist who first attended to the patient for the suspect transplant, says he was cheated by Sunil Deshmukh, a former administrator at Suretech Hospital. "We need to be more careful and should send samples for testing ourselves. On our part, we had verified all documentation and also confirmed the reports from Mumbai by phone too," he said. Dr Khetan claims that the entire procedure from first seeing the patient to discharging the patient took a month.
Dr Dhananjay Ookhalkar, the second nephrologist in the team, feels that the system has serious loopholes which should be rectified to prevent such scams.
Dr Anil Shrikhande, the urosurgeon who performed the operation, says that his job was only technical. He said he performed the surgery but could not in any way check on credentials of relatives. "We have been cheated. This case is like an eye opener. Hospitals should send the samples and not the patients or their relatives for test. Other such loopholes should also be plugged," he said.
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