Maharashtra: DMER orders hospitals to conduct tough document grill for organ donation

The Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) has instructed all hospitals in Maharashtra to verify the documents of organ donors before they give their consent for donation. Moreover, they should also check if there is any monetary transaction involved in organ donation.

Recently, a woman allegedly took Rs 15 lakh and posed as the wife of a patient so that he could undergo a kidney transplant at Pune-based Ruby Hall Clinic. The state health department has suspended the hospital’s registration for organ transplantation for six months. While a court in Pune sought a report from the police on the alleged incident, the High Court stayed the health department’s order. Meanwhile, the functioning of the regional organ transplant authorisation committee has been temporarily suspended. This committee is responsible for giving approval for such transplants.

DME director Dr Dilip Mhaisekar said there is a need to come up with guidelines to avoid any such incident in the future, which can hamper the organ donation drive across Maharashtra. He said, “Usually doctors or hospital authorities are aware of the donors as they are constantly in touch with them, giving updates of their patients. But in the Pune case, there was a lack of verification of documents owing to which we have made hospitals accountable for checking and verifying documents of donors.”

As per the new rules, documents such as Aadhaar card, ration card, bank statements etc, of both the recipient and donor should be verified and certified by the head of the institution before submitting them to the authorisation committee.

The new circular has been welcomed by several doctors who have said that holding the hospital accountable is necessary. But private hospitals have expressed displeasure at the circular, stating it will not only hamper the organ donation drive which has recently picked up pace, but will also reduce genuine donors from coming forward for the good cause.

“The decision will delay the organ transplant process. We do not have the mechanism to authenticate documents. Holding us alone responsible for the same is not fair,” said a doctor on condition of anonymity.

Ruby Hospital (Pune) case

A woman from Kolhapur, in exchange for Rs 15 lakh, allegedly posed as the wife of a man who needed a transplant, and donated her kidney to a young woman patient. In turn, the young woman’s mother donated her kidney to the man. Such a swap involving two patients and their relatives is carried out when the patients cannot receive a kidney from their own kin because of a blood group mismatch. On March 29, four days after undergoing the transplant surgery at Ruby Hall Clinic, the woman revealed her real identity after she had had a dispute over money. The hospital then alerted the police, which in turn reported the incident to the state health department.