Probe ordered in Goa's first organ transplant via green corridor

The Goa Health Ministry on Tuesday ordered a probe into the state's first organ harvesting and transplantation exercise, five days after the kidneys and liver of a 60-year-old patient in Goa were transported to Mumbai and transplanted to two persons admitted in two hospitals in the metropolis.

The probe ordered by Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Tuesday follows complaints by doctors who had claimed that ailing patients in need for organs within the state, where the organ donor died of brain haemorrhage, should have been first preference for organ transplantation.

"Dr. Mahesh Panche, Assistant Lecturer, Department of Casualty Emergency Medicine of this institution, is hereby directed not to leave the station and go anywhere outside the state or for any training programme within or outside the State. Dr. Mahesh shall make himself available for enquiry till its completion. This is for strict compliance," reads the enquiry note signed by the dean of the Goa Medical College and Hospital, Pradeek Naik.

Panche, as a medical professional attached to the casualty department of the state-run health facility, was serving as the co-ordinator of the exercise which involved harvesting of the organs from the deceased patient on Friday.

The organs were then transported via a green corridor facilitated by the Goa Police to the Dabolim International Airport before being flown to Mumbai by a special flight.

--IANS

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