Doctor In The Dock

January 24, 2004

Bombay Times traces the career and controversies in the life of Dr S P Trivedi, the medicine man who was arrested in the kidney racket on Thursday.

Tightlipped

Even as the news of the arrest of its leading nephrologist Dr S P Trivedi (63) in a kidney racket broke, Bombay Hospital went into a defensive mode, with all the top officials and close friends of Trivedi staying tightlipped on the issue.

The rise of Trivedi as a major force, reportedly thanks to his closeness to the management, was all the talk at the hospital. The nephrologist, who was registrar of J J Hospital in the '70s, moved to Bombay Hospital over 25 years ago. Friends tried hard to defend him - "a mild-mannered man, who was lured into the racket by his three agents."

Personal Crisis

Trivedi's record at the hospital, however, was marred by a personal crisis, when he was divorced from his wife Chanda 12 years ago, thanks to an alleged relationship with a nurse. Chanda (54), hailing from a traditional Marwari family now works as a professor at Mittal Ayurvedic College in Charni Road.

"I have no connection with this man now. He made several false allegations against me in our divorce case and I'm happy that destiny has caught up with him now," a bitter Chanda told Bombay Times.

Completing her studies after her divorce, Chanda now also runs a private practice in Ayurveda. Confessing that she's been telling close friends that her husband is dead, Chanda expressed happiness at being away from Trivedi. "I'm leading a happy life with my daughter and granddaughter, and I hope justice is done."

NGOs Have Their Say

Trivedi's sensational arrest came under attack from NGOs working in the field of legal donor transplant. "This case is a clear violation of the Human Organ Transplant Act (1994). Unrelated organ donors should be banned. We must promote donations from kidneys from the first family of the patient as defined by the law - mother, father, son or daughter," said Harsha Deshmukh of Narmada Kidney Foundation.

Deshmukh also alleged that despite several awareness initiatives, most doctors ignore cadaver transplants. "The percentage of cadavers is as low as 3 to 4 per cent in Mumbai. We do hold counselling courses for families of terminally ill patients as well as of those who need a transplant," she adds.

Copyright © 2004 India Times.

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This article posted February 15, 2004.