Does the Religion prohibit Organ Donation ?

‘ My religion is very simple , my religion is kindness ’- Dalai Lama

All the religions around the world have emphasized on importance of love , charity , sympathy and empathy . Donation of food , alms , cows and  land have been well documented in religious scriptures . The giving of an organ is an opportunity for generosity. The giving of part of one’s body to a person in need is an example of a very high level of generosity.

In Mahabharata , an incidence is mentioned wherein  Karna donated his life-saving Kavach to Indra as the later approached him as Brahmin  in disguise , knowing it  well that this would cause his death in the battle.

No religion is against organ donation. Centuries ago , when the religious scriptures were written , blood or organ donations were not invented but these have become a reality today. So we need to focus on stretching the spirit of donation to organ donation to save lives . The jest of the religious scriptures  is that the saving  of  life  overrides all objections . Organ donation is thus a greatest sacrifice one can do.

There are certain religious groups who believe that the God created them as whole and  they prefer to return to Him as whole. With this belief , many people  bury amputated limbs, foreskin from circumcision ,  amnion and placenta from delivery. This belief also prevent them from organ donation .

In Islam, religious leaders, ‘ustazs’ , ‘ulamas’ and mufti have different interpretations on organ donations , but all agree that holy book Koran does not forbid tissue donation.

‘MUFTI’  are experts in Islamic law qualified to give authoritative legal opinions know as fatwas. Mufti are appointed by government  to deal with Islamic matters. ‘FATWAS’ are religious rulings made by ‘Fatwa Committee’ as official stand by government  on various issues. ‘Fatwa Committee’ chaired by MUFTI includes prominent religious leaders, lawyers, doctors and other members of public. Fatwas are not legal binding. Often these religious leaders have come out with fatwas to donate organs . But  despite Fatwas,  people are often reluctant to donate organs.

A religious practice that often comes in the way of organ donations among different  communities is that a body must  be buried as soon as possible after death – the sooner the better usually less than 8 hours , often because of procedural delays it is not possible. If the officials co-operate then this delay is avoidable.

Christianity promotes organ donation. John Paul II  stated that ‘ We shall receive our supreme reward from God according to the genuine and effective love we have shown to our neighbor ’. Bible  states , “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6 : 38).”

The attitude of Buddhism is in perfect agreement with organ and tissue donation; and in Buddhist Scriptures there are stories where donation of tissues have been referred to as an act of charity earning merits . In the Sutra of Golden Light, a Mahayana Sutra, where the Buddha in a previous lifetime (as a young prince) is said to have encountered a starving tigress and her cubs and killed himself in front of her to provide her with food .

What is important for a person at the time of death for a Buddhist is not the condition of their body but of their mind. A state of non-attachment to the body is desirable at this time, and this could be aided by the generosity involved in deciding that one’s body could be used to help others after death.

According to statistics provided by India’s Organ Retrieval Banking Organization, every year 1- 1.5 lakh kidneys are required in the country but only 3,500-4,000 are transplanted. At the same time 15,000-20,000 liver are required every year but only 500 are transplanted. If people donate the organs after death then these shortages will be overcome and many lives can be saved .

We must realize that concept of brain death is the reality today , once a persons’ brain is dead , he or she  ceases to survive .

As I leave this transient world

Let me kindle a ray of hope

In the eyes of those

Who can not see

A breeze of fresh air for those

Who can not breath

An  elixir of life for them

Whose kidneys have failed

Let my heart beat in those

Whose  heart is fluttering to stay alive .

( Author is eminent Kidney Transplant Physician and founder member of Central India Kidney Foundation )

Organ Transplantation

One step forward , two back

This Saturday , the nation shall observe Organ donation day with the aim to spread awareness about organ donation . But over the years it has become a reality that the rosy and flowery words of organ donation has become a thorny and painful path for the doctors who are actually carrying out organ transplantation .

The Government of India wants to promote organ donation and transplantation. They have made laws to see that organ donation and transplantation can be done smoothly without exploiting the poor but they have not safeguarded the doctors.

Every time a kidney racket is exposed doctors are the first to be victimized. 

While it is a well established fact that many patients suffering from organ failure like kidney , liver or heart failure die every day awaiting organs , the very doctors  who make it happen face arrest and humiliation by the hands of authorities. Recently five doctors of a Mumbai hospital have been arrested and put behind bar for alleged unrelated unlawful transplant. 

Story goes like this – a patient suffering from kidney failure comes to a nephrologist with his wife as donor. Nephrologist conducts certain tests and finds wife suitable for kidney donation . He forwards the case to authorization committee who find the relationship of husband and wife as genuine and give permission for transplant. Just prior to transplant , police moved in and arrested the patient , donor and the doctors stating that the lady was not a real wife!

Now the question arises whether a doctor is also responsible for scrutinizing the documents whether these are real or fake ? We doctors are not trained for this .We are not the watch dogs . After spending 18 precious years of our life studying medicine and then building a career by full devotion to the well being of patients over a decade or two , suddenly we face a humiliation and treated as criminals for an offence we have not committed . 

The result of this action by law enforcement authorities is disastrous . As a doctor , our primary responsibility is towards health of our patients , but lately a doctors’ priority has become his  own safety . 

Organ transplant is full of challenges and risk. Like any other major surgery donor nephrectomy has its own risks. The recipient is always at risk …risk during surgery due to suboptimal health, risk after surgery due to post operative problems and of course the effects of drugs  both short term and long term. It is the doctor who accepts  all the challenges and goes ahead just so that the patient gets a good quality of life, just so that the patients can go ahead and enjoy seeing their children grow up and fulfill some of their life’s dream. For a doctor the whole process is very stressful ….before , during and even after surgery.

General perception is that doctors mint money through organ transplantation but is that really true ? Will any doctor go through the stressful process of doing a transplant and caring for the patient and then face the humiliation of being jailed , loose respect , loose the license to practice and destroy his reputation so painstakingly built over years just for money ?

Its time for the lawmakers and implementing authorities to rethink about their approach of insolence of  a devoted professional who is in no way concerned with confirming identity of a donor – a  job to be done by  police  ……..

By harassing doctors , the authorities are in fact harming the organ transplantation program.