Court seeks police report on malpractice during kidney transplant procedure in Pune hospital

Taking cognisance of an application filed by a non-government organisation (NGO), a court in Maharashtra’s Pune sought a report from the police on an alleged incident of fraud that occurred during a kidney transplant procedure in a city-based hospital recently.

The police said they have submitted the report to the court.

A woman had allegedly posed as the wife of a patient so that he could undergo a kidney transplant at city-based Ruby Hall Clinic, a private hospital, recently. The state health department later suspended the hospital’s registration for organ transplantation, however, the High Court stayed the health department’s order, suspending the hospital’s registration for organ transplants.

The functioning of the regional organ transplant authorisation committee was also temporarily suspended. This committee is responsible for giving approval for such transplants. ”A court has sought a report on the alleged fraud during a kidney transplant procedure from us and we have submitted the report,” said Vinayak Vetal, the police inspector from Koregaon Park police station.

He added that the report was sought by the court after an application was filed by an NGO in the court. A woman from Kolhapur, who was allegedly promised Rs 15 lakh, fraudulently 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.