PANJIM: Three days after the State authorities and doctors were commended for transporting to Mumbai organs retrieved from a person declared brain dead, the State government has instituted an inquiry as to why Goan patients failed to get the benefit of the organs.
The Health Minister has constituted a committee of inquiry headed by Additional Secretary (Health) Sunil Masurkar which would have Dr Rajnanda Desai, Dr Ugam Usgaonkar, Dr Thereza as members.
Meanwhile, Goa Medical College Dean Pradip Naik has also issued an order to Dr Mahesh Panche, Assistant Lecturer, Department of Casualty and Emergency Medicine, GMC directing him not to leave the station to go anywhere outside the State or for any training programme within or outside the State. “Dr Mahesh shall make himself available till its completion. This is for strict compliance,” said the order by Naik.
Speaking to Herald, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said he was at loss for words for this lapse which has cost Goan patients dearly. “Yes, I have initiated an inquiry not to punish anybody but to know what happened, why did we lose the organs which could have saved lives of three people of our State,” Rane said.
The Health minister said he wants to know that as the donor was Goan the benefit of organs should have remained within the State. “If some officer has done wrong we need to know why and how. We need to know why NOTTO (National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation) has not given us the organs. GMC will investigate and will report to me at the earliest,” he said adding, “The committee under Additional Secretary Sunil Masurkar will investigate the matter and report back to me at the earliest.”
Asked whether GMC and the State feel that Panche was responsible for the lapse he said let the investigations prove it. “Dr Mahesh was put as transplant specialist and he has bungled up many times earlier. Let the investigations come out and I will remove him and depute some other doctor for training to Spain for transplants,” he said.
When pointed out that Goa does not have SOTTO (State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation) to get the benefit of organs donated, Rane said, “It is all rubbish that we do not have SOTTO etc we have a cadaveric transplant facility in place already and that is enough,” he stated.
Three days ago a green corridor created by Goa Police helped doctors transport the kidneys and liver of a brain-dead patient from Bambolim to Dabolim airport, a distance of 30 km, in record time of 24 minutes. The organs were then flown to a Mumbai-based hospital for transplant.
The donor, B Sadashiv Rao, 60, was admitted to Manipal hospital. “His condition was irreversible, which fact was made known to his family. The kin later decided to donate his multiple organs.
