Hyderabad: The four-member expert committee, formed by the Telangana government to investigate the alleged kidney racket at Alaknanda Hospital here, has put a plastic surgeon also under the scanner.
The panel is currently questioning a large group of people, including kidney donors, recipients, and doctors, to unearth the details behind the racket.
Officials said a comprehensive report will be submitted to the Director of Medical Education (DME) today.
DME's Statement
Speaking about the probe, the DME Dr. N. Vani claimed that there were several instances where donors, including widows, were operated on to donate their kidneys due to their financial issues and other pressures.
She suggested that the racket might be spread across other states as the recipients and donors primarily speak Tamil and Kannada languages.
“The involvement of a woman named Purnima, whom the donors identified during the probe, is believed to play a key role in facilitating the operations,” Dr Vani said.
The DME claimed that Alaknanda Hospital had only one plastic surgeon on its roster, which is why authorities started probing his role in the racket.
“We are thoroughly probing whether the plastic surgeon conducted these surgeries. Any doctor found performing unauthorised surgeries will face severe penalties,” she said.
Racket Spanning States
The initial findings indicated that people from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were brought to Telangana as part of the illegal operations, as the donors' testimonies indicated that it targeted vulnerable individuals, who either face financial issues or any other pressures, the DME said.
Officials said that Rangareddy district health officials and police have raided Alakananda Hospital in Saroor Nagar following information that kidney transplantations were being carried out without permission. During the inspection, officials sealed the premises and shifted kidney donors and recipients to Nalugurni Gandhi Hospital for better medical care, District Health and Medical Officer Venkateshwar Rao said.
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