Centre orders probe in ‘cash for kidney’ racket; Apollo denies allegations

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 5

The Health Ministry has ordered an inquiry against the ‘cash for kidney’ racket in Delhi’s Indraprastha Apollo Hospital on Tuesday.

The British newspaper – The Telegraph two days ago in a report titled ‘Revealed: Global private hospital group embroiled in ‘cash for kidneys’ racket’ have raised allegations against the hospital.

The report alleged that young villagers from Myanmar were being flown to the Apollo hospital in Delhi and were paid to donate their kidneys to rich patients in Myanmar.

The hospital refuted the allegations terming it ‘false’, ‘ill-informed’ and ‘misleading’.

The spokesperson of Indraprastha Medical Corporation Limited (IMCL) said, “The allegations made in the recent international media against IMCL are absolutely false, ill-informed and misleading.

“All the facts were shared in detail with the concerned journalist. To be clear, IMCL complies with every legal and ethical requirement for the transplant procedures including all guidelines laid down by the government as well as our own extensive internal processes that exceed compliance requirements.” it added.

Apollo Hospitals is a multispecialty hospital which has its chain all across the country with 71 networks of owned and managed hospitals.

“For example, IMCL requires every donor to provide Form 21 notarised by the appropriate ministry in their country. This form is a certification from the foreign government that the donor and recipient are indeed related. The government appointed transplant authorisation committee at IMCL reviews documents for each case including this certification and interviews the donor and the recipient. It further re-validates the documents with the concerned embassy of the country. The patients and donors undergo several medical tests, including genetic testing. These and many more steps far exceed any compliance requirements for a transplant procedure and ensure that donor and recipient are indeed related as per applicable laws. IMCL remains committed to the highest standards of ethics and to delivering on our mission to bring the best healthcare to all,” it further added.

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