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.