Southern States - Kerala   

IMA probe inconclusive: panel

By Biju Govind

KOZHIKODE NOV. 3. The North Zone Authorisation Committee for Organ Transplantation chairman, M.R. Chandran, has flayed the inquiry report of the Ethics Committee of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on the alleged kidney scandal describing it "as inconclusive and conducted just for a namesake.''

Talking to The Hindu here today, Dr. Chandran pointed out that the inquiry committee failed to delve deep into the allegations but instead indicted the authorisation committee for its lapses in clearing the cases.

Dr. Chandran was earlier the chairman of the three-member Authorisation Committee for Organ Transplantation since its inception in 1995. The authorisation committee continued its functioning till June 2002. Later the United Democratic Front (UDF) Government trifurcated the single body into three zonal committees with their own chairmen and conveners. Dr. Chandran is also the principal of the Kozhikode Medical College here.

"One should note that the authorisation committee gave its approval to a case only after confirming the facts about the patient, interviewing the prospective donor, the spouse and relatives of the prospective donor, checking the medical records, verifying the reasons for donating the kidney, whether financial or material benefit was involved and if there was any informed consent from the prospective donor. That was not an easy task,'' Dr. Chandran said.

"The inquiry committee comprising Dr. M. Bhaskaran, Dr. V.U. Bhasi and Dr. Babu Raveendran spoke to me for just 15-20 minutes. A letter from the then ethics committee convener, Dr. Jose M. Malana, was also handed over to me. That's all,'' said Dr. Chandran, an expert in forensic medicine and legal affairs.

"Now after the inquiry report became public we do not know whether it was tampered with to exonerate the accused hospitals. Otherwise it would not have taken a dig at the authorisation committee,'' he said.

"Members of the authorisation committee cannot do the job of a policeman trying to squeeze out the truth from the patient, the prospective donors and the hospital staff. They are professionally qualified persons upholding medical ethics and obeying the laws of the land. They give a patient hearing to both the parties once the case is presented before the panel. Of course, we don't take the hospital authorities at the face value although they are presenting a particular case after checking the details,'' he said.

As many as 150 cases were approved during 2001-2002. Most of the renal transplants took place in Kozhikode, Malappuram and Thrissur and a few in Ernakulam. The majority of the donors were from Idukki (14) and Wayanad (6) and three were from the neighbouring State of Tamil Nadu. The private institution such as the National Hospital here conducted 183 transplants (related - 48 and unrelated - 135) since 1996, the P.V.S. Hospital - 58, (related - 24 and unrelated- 34) since 1997, the Baby Memorial Hospital, 54, (related- 12 and unrelated- 42) since 2000, and the Moulana Hospital, Malappuram, 33 (related- 20 and unrelated - 13) since 2000.

Dr. Chandran also felt that the ethics committee of the IMA was not at all a competent authority to look into the allegations of a kidney racket. "Brickbats from various quarters would not have come if it were so. It is also obvious that the inquiry committee did not exactly conduct the probe as per the terms of reference,'' he added.

Convincing answers would then have been found to some of the clauses such as a) whether the hospital authorities/doctors had directly or indirectly influenced in any way the kidney donor as reported in the press; b) whether any money transaction had occurred between the donor and recipient with the knowledge of the hospital/doctors; c) whether there had been any exploitation of the tribals of Idukki district in organ donation as reported in the press and d) whether the hospitals/doctors in the kidney transplantation procedure, strictly adhered to the rules laid down in the Human Organs Transplantation Act.

He also said the authorisation committee had been very strict all these years and would be very strict in the future too regarding the implementation of the rules on sanctioning of kidney transplants from non-related donor on altruistic grounds.

"The authorisation committee is convening here on November 11 to deal with fours cases from various hospitals in Malabar. Two of these cases have come through the direction of the Kerala High Court,'' Dr. Chandran said.

He said the District Superintendents of Police had been requested to verify the details of the prospective donors. The relationship between the donor and the recipient had also been sought in this regard. "We do not know whether the police officers will cooperate to furnish the details. But then we want to make the system more and more foolproof and flawless,'' he said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Govt. protecting kidney racketeers: VS
• Lack of facilities at Chengannur bus station
• `Don't let commercialisation kill Ayurveda's soul'
• Malabar Coastal Highway to be completed by 2005
• Call for mass resistance against globalisation
• Kothamangalam bags over-all championship
• `Spot trading' in copra begins today
• Coliform count high in rivers
• Dispute over `preferential prescription'
• IMA probe inconclusive: panel

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu