The Indian Society of Organ Transplantation’s AP chapter on Wednesday blamed the government for its failure to keep a check on kidney rackets. Among reasons for the spawning illegal trade in kidneys, ISOT pointed out loopholes in the Human Organ Transplantation Act, lack of stringent punishment, monitoring and delay in implementation of Jeevandan programme that entailed setting up of brain-death declaration teams in all hospitals.
As part of the endeavour to raise awareness, ISOT will hold a national workshop on deceased donor transplantation and adoption of the ‘Spanish model’ in the city soon. Dr A. Gopal Kishan, nephrologist and former chairman of ISOT, said, “Periodic reports of kidney transplant rackets and continued malpractices is due to non-implementation of HOTA, 1994. Though the government is aware of loopholes in the Act, it has failed to plug them. The recently exposed kidney racket in Hyderabad, which involved a government doctor for the first time, calls for an urgent need to make the Act foolproof and effective.”
He said there are loopholes in verification of first-degree relatives in case of live donor transplants. “The government needs to monitor and get proper investigation of the rackets done through appropriate agencies and take stringent action against erring doctors when their involvement is established,” he said