Organ Racket Sucks In Victims From East

By G.S. Radharkrishna

Hyderabad, Oct. 26: The Andhra Pradesh Assembly has been rocked by news that a kidney-sale racket, involving mainly people from the east and Northeast, has been flourishing for a number of years, with leading state hospitals being the main offenders.

Police say nearly 400 kidney transplants have been conducted in various hospitals in the first nine months of the year, adding that nearly 70 per cent of these were illegal, with hospitals using brokers to reach out to needy donors to obtain the organ.

People from east and Northeast India, and occasionally refugees from Bangladesh, who land up in the coastal towns of Vijayawada, Rajahmundry, Kakinada and Visakhapatnam in search of a better livelihood are easy prey for the brokers. People are also roped in from the east and Northeast on special kidney sale- cum-tourism packages; businessmen are also tapped by donors.

Over the last five years, the police in the coastal Andhra districts have traced the involvement of a number of such people in the racket. The hospitals welcome these "patients" for it helps them obtain kidneys cheaply.

The poverty-stricken people are happy to sell their kidneys for they usually look to earn some extra money by "selling" blood and other organs like their liver and renting out their wombs.

The Andhra chapter of the Indian Medical Association says refugees from eastern India account for 40 per cent of the kidney transplants in the state.

Andhra, which is emerging as the corporate medicare hub of India, has 28 super-specialised hospitals in the coastal districts and Hyderabad. "There are certain corporate hospitals in Hyderabad where Bengalis get a special package - accommodation with transport and Bengali food is thrown in by the agents," a senior police official says.

The police say organ transplants need to be cleared by a special state committee set up to implement the Human Organs Transplant Act, 1994. Despite this, nearly 70 per cent of the transplants are not reported to the committee by corporate hospitals.

Forged documents are produced to show that people are donating organs to their relatives. The racket comes to light only when a patient dies or there is disagreement over terms of the transaction.

The police say around 400 such kidney transplants were carried out in 2001-02 at corporate hospitals in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Rajahmundry. The number jumped to 635 the following year, while around 400 transplants have been carried out in the first nine months this year.

As many as 256 transplants - 25 of which failed - were done in hospitals in Hyderabad, Rajahmundry and Visakhapatnam during Dussehra alone. "The hospitals have done roaring business in the Dussehra season, with most of the visitors from Calcutta and other Bengal towns bringing donors as part of a tourism package to Andhra towns," point out the police, who have swung into action after the racket attracted the attention of the media and politicians.

The involvement of corporate hospitals and the magnitude of the racket have shocked the Assembly. The House was told that 21 kidney transplants were carried out in five corporate hospitals in Hyderabad during September. Twelve of these were illegal and four of them unsuccessful.

Asked why so many people were coming to Andhra for transplants, police sources say the organ recipients register at state hospitals even though they live outside Andhra, and in some cases, outside India.

"A waiting list at a prominent corporate hospital in Rajahmundry comprised nearly 270 kidney patients," the police say. They add that other hospitals in Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam have a combined waiting list of nearly 900 patients. A Hyderabad-based relative of one patient says the hospitals offer patients organs within four months of registering with them.

Following the storm over the racket, the government has said: "Hospitals and doctors too will be held responsible in case illegal donors are involved in transplants." The police hope the directive will stem the flow of illegal donors.

Copyright © 2003 The Telegraph.

This article posted December 11, 2003.