‘Consent must to remove organs from brain dead’; Al-Mousawi refutes allegations

February 21, 2006

KUWAIT CITY: The organs of a brain-dead person cannot be removed without the consent of the patient’s close relatives. However, if the patient has no relatives, the organs can be removed with the permission of the Ministry of Health according to the law, says Chairman of Hamad Al-Essa Kidney and Organ Transplant Center at Sabah Hospital. Dr Mustafa Al-Mousawi was talking to the Arab Times Monday refuting allegations by sources close to a brain-dead Indian expatriate, who died later on, of the hospital authorities trying to remove the patient’s organs.

Al-Mousawi emphasized that the Kuwaiti law ensures that no organ trade takes place in the country as donors are paid directly by the government and the transplant center or hospital authorities cannot pay mercenary middlemen. Referring to the case of Masood, the brain dead expatriate, the chairman said he had a cousin sister, whose permission was crucial for the patient’s organ removal. He denied any knowledge of the background of the patient’s head injury “that rendered him brain dead,” saying “the center is only interested in the condition of the patient vis-à-vis organ donation and it is not up to the center to investigate cases.”

Suspicions about the circumstances that led to the patients injuries is for the police to deal with, Al-Mousawi clarified. Explaining the legalities behind organ donation, Mousawi said “when a patient in the ICU shows symptoms of brain death, the doctor in charge, as per law, is obliged to intimate the case to the organ transplant center. The coordinator of the center will call a committee as outlined in the ‘Transplantation Law of 1987’ to confirm the brain-dead condition of the patient.”

Once brain death is confirmed, he added, a Brain Dead Documentation form is filled and signed by the members of the committee, which is inclusive of a neurologist. “And then a written consent should be procured from the family of the patient or from the Ministry of Health, in case there are no relatives, before the patient’s organs can be removed.” Meanwhile, sources close to Masood confirmed his death and said the Indian embassy is now preparing the papers to ship his remains to India for the last rites.

By Valiya S. Sajjad - Arab Times Staff

Copyright © 2006 arabtimesonline.com.

This article posted March 10, 2006.