Apollo kidney racket: Delhi hospitals, nursing homes issued advisory

Hospitals and nursing homes in Delhi have been asked to follow the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act

Following the busting of a kidney racket gang at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in the national capital, all hospitals and nursing homes in Delhi where organ transplantation surgeries are performed, have been issued with an advisory calling them to follow the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act.

The Directorate General of Health Services, Delhi said in the advisory that the Act paved the way for promoting organ transplantation for therapeutic purposes in India.

"The basic premise behind the act and the rules has been to ensure that donation of organs (especially from a living donor) is purely for altruistic reasons, out of love and affection and it is free from any financial transaction or in lieu of its assurance in future in any manner between recipient and donor and there is no pressure or / coercion of any kind on the donor," the advisory said.

The advisory reiterated its directive that all the hospitals in Delhi where organ transplantation is performed must follow the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act and the Rules in letter and spirit.

On Friday, the Delhi Police, busted a kidney racket gang operating at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, which used to deal with the transplantation of the organ.

The gang also includes two women and two clerical staff from the hospital.

The staff present in the private hospital used to inform Asim, (who is allegedly the mastermind of the gang) about the need of kidney by the patients.

Asim, then used to find donors who could give the kidneys to needful patients and in exchange, huge amounts of money would be given to donors and the gang would get a cut from the profits.

The police arrested Asim and also questioned the doctors of the hospital in this regard.