Rajasthan DMER approved kidney transplant, says Global Hospital

MUMBAI: Global Hospital in Parel, under the scanner for a dubious kidney transplant case in March, said that the hospital’s authorisation committee didn’t have the power to approve the transplant as the donor and recipient were from Rajasthan. Top officials from the hospital also said that the transplant was approved by Directorate of Medical Education (DMER), Rajasthan, which found no irregularities in the documents.

After news of the kidney scam at LH Hiranandani Hospital broke, state officials came across a case, rejected in March, in which would-be donor Rishabh Dhangache, 21, approached the hospital seeking to donate a kidney to his father Suresh Dhangache, 51. State officials reviewing their documents and came to the conclusion Rishabh was Suresh’s adopted son and that money may have changed that they would soon send the hospital a notice regarding the transplant.

Hospital officials said on Saturday that its authorisation committee did not have the power to give permission for the transplant as the state’s authorisation committee approves transplant cases from other states. A source said the hospital had forwarded all the papers to the state authorisation committee for approval. Thereafter, except for the letter denying permission for the transplant, the hospital has not received any further communication from any authority.

Manpreet Sohal, CEO of Global Hospital, said, “We forwarded all the documents received by us from the recipient and the donor to the state authorisation committee, including those regarding their relationship. Police verification, tehsildar’s certificate, a no-objection certificate from the Rajasthan government Aadhar cards documentation. We followed all the applicable regulations.”

In its letter denying permission for the transplant, the state authorisation committee said the donor was too young and “being adopted, could be under a moral obligation (to donate a kidney)”.

Sohal added, “If there were any lapses by the hospital, the state authorisation committee would have noted them in its letter, which it has not. After the approval was declined, the patient was discharged.”

Dr Pravin Shingare, director of Maharashtra’s DMER, said the state authorisation committee denied permission for the transplant as the father and son couldn’t prove to that the donation was above board and that there was no coercion involved. “DMER also rejected it as there was a suspicion that money had changed hands. However, we won’t issue a notice to the hospital as the investigation hasn’t found any discrepancies ” said