Govt orders probe into ‘cash-for-kidney’ charge against Apollo, hospital says, ‘baseless, misleading’

A report in the British daily The Daily Telegraph says poor Myanmarese villagers were lured to donate organs to rich patients from the same country.

File photo of Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in New Delhi | Commons

New Delhi: The Centre has ordered an inquiry into allegations of a “cash-for-kidney” racket in Delhi’s Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, a senior government official said Tuesday.

The probe comes on the heels of a report published by British daily The Telegraph two days ago, which said “impoverished people from Myanmar” were being enticed to sell their kidneys to rich patients from the same country. 

In both India and Myanmar, patients cannot receive organs from anyone who is not their relative, nor can they pay for the organs. The report alleged that complete strangers from Myanmar who wanted to sell their kidneys were shown as relatives of recipients through fake identities and forged documents. 

“These are serious allegations,” said the health ministry official, adding that the Delhi unit of the National Organ and Tissue Transplantation Organisation (NOTTO), will conduct the inquiry. NOTTO reports to the Union health ministry.

When contacted, an Indraprastha Medical Corporation Limited (IMCL) spokesperson said the charges made in the news report were “absolutely false, ill-informed and misleading”. 

“All facts were shared in detail with the concerned journalist,” the spokesperson said, adding that IMCL complied with every legal and ethical requirement for transplant procedures, including all guidelines laid down by the government as well as its own extensive internal processes. 

“For example, IMCL requires every donor to provide Form 21 notarised by the appropriate ministry in their country,” the spokesperson said, adding that this form was a certification from the foreign government that the donor and recipient were indeed related. 

“The government-appointed transplant authorisation committee at IMCL reviews documents for each case including this certification, and interviews the donor and the recipient,” the spokesperson said. 

The hospital further re-validates the documents with the embassy of the country concerned, and patients and donors undergo several medical tests including genetic testing, he added.

(Edited by Tikli Basu)