Team Herald
BAMBOLIM: Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Friday said that an inquiry will be initiated against Health Secretary J Ashok Kumar for unilaterally permitting a private hospital to harvest organs, when it is not recognised to undertake such procedures.
The Health Minister also said that Manipal Hospitals’ application for organ transplant stands rejected and that Goa Medical College (GMC) will be the sole hospital authorized to carry out organ transplants in the State.
Addressing the media, Rane said, “The entire process of organ harvesting by Manipal Hospitals is illegal. The committee which has been investigating the illegal harvesting of organs of a brain dead patient by Manipal Hospital will also inquire into the role played by Kumar. Once the report is out I will take action and fix responsibility of what is to be done.”
He added, “The Secretary Health had no power to give unilateral permission to Manipal hospital to undertaken organ transplant. It is absolutely illegal. Bureaucracy ought to understand that they should fall within the lines of their operational aspects. They can’t cross the rules. They can’t go beyond their limits,” he said.
He further said that GMC is the sole organ transplant facility in Goa. “The harvesting done at Manipal Hospital is not as per law. The inquiry into it is going on. Once report comes to me I will fix responsibility and see what is to be done. As long as I am Health Minister GMCH will be the only hospital for organ transplant,” Rane added.
Rane also said that the GMC Dean Dr Pradip Naik has been asked to set up the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO) within 30 days, which is mandatory for the organ donation program. “GMC is the 7th hospital in India which is recognised by SOTTO,” the minister said
The government, on April 10, had initiated a high level inquiry after Manipal Hospital had harvested the organs of patient declared brain dead and sent them to Mumbai, without allocating them to GMC when there were 10 patients awaiting kidneys.
