2 Tamil Nadu Hospitals Lose Transplant Licences Over Alleged Kidney Racket

In a major crackdown on a suspected kidney transplantation racket, the Tamil Nadu government has suspended the kidney transplant licences of two private hospitals - Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College Hospital in Perambalur, and Cethar Hospitals in Trichy - following a preliminary probe conducted by the state health department.

The action came in response to alarming allegations that a broker based in Namakkal was luring poor textile workers into selling their kidneys for money, bypassing organ donation laws. 

A multi-member team led by Project Director Dr S Vineeth, IAS, conducted field investigations and inspections at both hospitals and in affected areas. Based on their findings, the department submitted a preliminary report, following which the government, under Section 16(2) of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, temporarily suspended the transplant licences of both hospitals.

Several individuals who had donated kidneys have since come forward, sharing how they were promised money in exchange for their organs. In one telling instance, a mother of two children claimed she was paid Rs 6.5 lakh for donating a kidney to repay her family's debts and secure financial stability. She alleged that the procedure took place at Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College Hospital, where she was kept as an inpatient for a week for the transplant.

While a police case has been registered and an investigation is underway, it remains unclear whether the hospitals and transplant surgeons were complicit in orchestrating the scam. The case also raises serious questions about the role and effectiveness of the authorisation or screening committees, which are mandated to rigorously verify the genuineness of the relationship between donors and recipients in cases of "living donor" transplants.

Unlike cadaveric organ transplants, which are time-consuming and governed by a centralised waiting list, family or related donors can legally donate organs more easily - a loophole allegedly exploited by brokers. Investigators suspect that these middlemen supplied poor donors, preying on their financial desperation, to recipients under false relationships.

The state government has reiterated its commitment to ethical transplant practices and has promised strict action against all individuals and institutions found to be in violation of the law. The case is likely to have wide-reaching implications for how transplant protocols are enforced and scrutinised in Tamil Nadu's private healthcare sector.