Hyderabad:A kidney transplant racket allegedly operating out of Alakananda Hospital in Saroornagar’s Doctors Colony was unearthed on Tuesday during a joint raid conducted by law enforcement and health authorities.
One person was arrested in connection with the case while others fled the scene.
Acting on a tip-off about unauthorised kidney transplants, the team of police and health officials raided the hospital. They found that the hospital staff had lured women with promises of financial gain, only to exploit them by conducting illegal organ transplants.
Amidst the chaos of the raid, hospital doctors abandoned the kidney donors and fled the scene. Four critically ill donors, from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, were rushed to Gandhi Hospital. Police said they were unable to make statements due to the language barrier
The police held one person named Sumanth, part of the hospital management, later in the evening. The accused, is reported to have secured his MBBS degree in Uzbekistan, is being questioned by ACP Krishnaiah.
“The hospital, a nine-bed facility, was authorised to function as a multi-specialty hospital, but not for conducting surgeries,” said Dr Venkateshwarulu, Rangareddy district medical and health officer.
He added that criminal charges will be filed against the individuals involved. The DMHO stated that the kidneys had been removed from the victims and transplanted into recipients.
Dr Sree Bhushan Raju, senior professor of nephrology at NIMS and nodal officer of the Jeevandan programme, informed Deccan Chronicle that the Alakananda Hospital was not registered with them.
There are 41 hospitals registered in the state that are allowed to do the transplants. “They need to have proper support in terms of surgeons, equipment and post transplant care as well to be able to conduct a transplant,” Dr Raju said.
He said Jeevandan could not inquire into illegal activities. “We can bring it to the notice of NOTTO (National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation), the Central government’s body of monitoring transplants,” Dr Raju said.
Dr Raju added that among medical circles, Hyderabad was being referred to as the new hub for illegal transplants.
Dr Srinivas Gundagani, vice-chairman, Telangana Medical Council said that this is for the first time that such a racket had been revealed by a raid. “TGMC will take suo motu cognisance of this case and file a complaint and conduct investigations,” he said.
“Such activities are in violation of the Medical Ethics Rules, 2002. If needed, we will conduct further raids across the state to see if they are happening in other places as well,” he added.
Dr Kiran Madhala, president, Telangana Teaching Government Doctors Association (TTGDA), said that medical authorities should have kept a closer watch. “One needs to figure out whether more hospitals are involved,” he said.
Health minister Damodar Rajanarsimha in his statement on the issue said that it would be dealt with strictly. “Illegal kidney transplantation activities at Alakananda Hospital in Saroornagar are a grave concern,” he said adding that he had sought detailed reports from senior health department officials.
He said the government had established task force committees to inspect private hospitals and enforce the Clinical Establishments Act. “These committees must operate more effectively and take stringent measures to prevent such incidents,” Rajanarsimha said.
Saroornagar police will conduct further investigation by talking to other staffers at the hospital and work on further leads. The victims were struggling to communicate, due to language barriers, as per officials.
