The inquiry report into the illegal kidney trade racket at the prestigious Hiranandani hospital in Mumbai is expected anytime later this week. The three-member panel investigating the matter is giving final touches to the report after the preliminary enquiry.
It is likely that the probe findings would throw light on serious anomalies in paper work which precedes an organ transplant operation at any hospital. It is also expected to throw light on the "networked" nature of the offence and the all-round involvement of a few Hiranandani doctors and staffers. Also, other transplant operations carried out at the hospital by the doctors involved are also being scanned and investigated by the panel.
The incident had shocked many when Powai police, acting on a tip-off, picked up and arrested the CEO of Hiranandani hospital Sujit Chatterjee and its medical director Anurag Naik, along with a slew of other doctors and staff.
The racket was unearthed on July this year after whistle blower Sunder Singh Yadav alerted the authorities. A transplant operation was stymied mid-way after it turned out that the donor and the recipient were not related and that the papers were faked. Yadav is in hiding after receiving death threats.
The Directorate of Health Services, thereafter, ordered a detailed probe into the matter. DHS director Mohan Jadhav said that the report on the matter is in the final stages and that will be soon submitted to the health ministry. In fact, state health minister Deepak Sawant himself has taken a very active role in ensuring that the kidney scam is properly investigated.
The investigation report would enable the state government to moot harsher and tightened laws in regard to organ donations and transplant operations. However, the hospital has been continuing with its own internal examination into the matter.
