mid-day editorial: Don't make organ donation a casualty

Ever since Mumbai Police busted a major kidney racket at a top Powai hospital, and arrested five of its doctors, including the CEO and the medical director, the case has had a domino effect. Victims have started speaking out, doctors have come under the scanner and it is evident that we have only seen the tip of the iceberg. It is not just one hospital, but several that are going to come under investigation. The can of worms has well and truly been opened.

It was exactly a month ago that a social worker blew the lid off the kidney racket by tipping off the police that a donor and recipient were posing as husband and wife so they could participate in an illegal transplant. Some political activists and members of a trade union joined hands with the police to stop a kidney transplant midway. From then on, the spiral started.

This paper reported last week that doctors across the city are now reluctant to take on transplant cases because they fear they will be blamed for any irregularities in the paperwork, much like the Powai doctors have been blamed. Scores of patients are already in the lurch, and the matter could even worse if the organ donations dry up.

While one is sure there is much more dirt to be unearthed, there is also hope that these reports will not tarnish legitimate efforts to donate and transplant organs. For some time now, we had been seeing a heartening uptick in awareness about cadaver donation. There were people evincing genuine interest in how to go about pledging organs. Green corridors were created in the city to transport hearts from one end of the city to the other.

The tempo has been set, so it would be a matter of huge regret if organ donation, on the whole, is equated with rackets and not the noble act it is. Different agencies working in this space need to get to work and emphasise on the positives. Celebrities must move in here, quickly reinforcing the message so that we do not lose the gains we have made recently.

Let all the current darkness not throw its shadow and mar the spirit of give and let live.