SC seeks details from doc alleging hospitals declare patients brain dead in Kerala to harvest organs

The Supreme Court Tuesday asked a doctor to bring on record specific instances showing that patients were prematurely declared brain dead by private hospitals in Kerala to harvest their organs as has been alleged in his petition.

The apex court said it can examine the allegations if some evidence is brought on record by naming certain hospitals which are purportedly declaring patients as brain dead in order to harvest their organs for transplant.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose granted four weeks to S Ganapathy, who appeared in person, to highlight the gross malpractice in the certification of brain dead in Kerala.

"We are grateful to you for bringing the issue but you have not given a single instance of patients being declared brain dead prematurely. Your petitions is very general," the bench observed.

The doctor filed the appeal in 2017 against a Kerala High Court order which stated that it was satisfied with the steps taken to prevent such malpractices.

It has been alleged that especially in private hospitals, the patients are "prematurely" declared brain dead to ensure cadaveric donation of organs like heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and pancreas.

The apex court said there has to be specific instances of such incidents and the names of the private hospitals have to be there so that its order was not passed behind the back of such entities.