'Joseph' finds relevance after Kerala police unearth unethical organ trade racket

'Joseph', a 2018 Malayalam film, had not gone down well with the medical fraternity in Kerala as they felt that the film, which tells that story of unethical practices of organ trade, had affected organ transplants in the state.

The film, however, has become even more relevant now with Kerala police unearthing the presence of organ trade rackets thriving in the state.

A senior police officer told DH that allegations of unethical practices in organ donation had been around for quite some time. The Crime Branch has now initiated a preliminary inquiry following some tip-offs and it found that many from financially weak backgrounds were being wooed by such rackets. The Kerala police has launched a detailed probe into the matter.

'Joseph' is about the unethical practice of declaring patients brain dead to harvest organs as well as rackets that involve killing prospective donors. The film came at a time when organ transplant had become very common in Kerala.

In view of the unethical practices prevailing in the sector, the Kerala government had initiated the Deceased Donor Organ Transplantation Program to streamline the process in 2012.

The film also showed how private hospital lobbies managed to bypass such checks imposed by the government.

The Indian Medical Association's Kerala chapter had flayed the film by stating that the relatives of many brain-dead patients were showing reluctance towards organ donation.

IMA state Vice President Dr. Sulphi N told DH that the present police investigation was also initiated after forums like the IMA had sought a probe.

"Our objection towards the film was about generalising that people were being murdered by rackets for harvesting organs. Our concern was that such wrong depictions regarding cadaver organ donation would only help the rackets involved in the unethical trade of transplanting organs from live donors," he said.

According to data available with Kerala's Deceased Donor Organ Transplantation Program, as many as 218 organs were donated in the state in 2015 and 199 in 2016. However, the number came down to 60 in 2017 and fell to 29 in 2018, the year in which the film was released. In 2019, it was 55 and this year, it's 61 so far.