Court orders probe into alleged foul play in organ transplant in Kerala

A court in Kerala's Kochi has initiated a probe into the alleged foul play in declaring a 18-year old accident victim brain dead and transplanting his organ to a foreign national in 2009.

The youth hailing from Idukki met with an accident at Muvattupuzha on the rural parts of Ernakulam district on November 29, 2009. He was initially admitted to Mar Baselios hospital at Kothamangalam in Ernakulam and shifted to Lakeshore hospital in Kochi on November 30, where he was declared brain dead on December 1. His liver was transplanted to a Malaysian national.

Kollam native Dr S Ganapathy moved court in 2020 alleging foul play in declaring the youth brain dead and the transplantation. The major allegations were that the two hospitals did not give proper treatment to the victim. Evacuation of blood from the cranial cavity was not carried out. Apnoea test was not conducted to confirm brain death. The brain death was confirmed by doctors who were not authorised to do that. Procedures prescribed in the Transplantation of Human Organs Act were not followed. His relatives were allegedly induced to give consent for organ donation. Donor's details were also wrongly mentioned as the Malaysian national's wife in embassy documents.

The court ordered investigation after the allegations were found to be prima facie true. Eight doctors and the hospital authorities were accused in the case.

Lakeshore hospital authorities commented that the transplantation was conducted by following the norms and the allegations were not true. The hospital would cooperate with the investigation.