Tamil Nadu's shame: Kidneys on sale for Rs 25,000CNN-IBN
Sat, Jan 05, 2008
Chennai: That Tamil Nadu is fast emerging as a hub of a thriving kidney trade racket has worried the country’s medical authorities for some time. Reinforcing that notorious distinction is a report that says at least 500 kidneys have recently been sold by poor villagers for a pittance.
The report says generations of villagers living near Vizhupuram, about 250 km from state capital Chennai, have been selling their kidneys for Rs 25,000.
Working as labourers in Chennai, these people are lured by agents who promise them large sums of money in exchange for selling their kidneys, illegally.
Most of these labourers, already in debt, are soft targets. Shockingly, reputed doctors are reportedly performing these surgeries in respectable hospitals in Chennai.
Says Ramayee, a villager who sold her kidney, "I went to Chennai for work as a labourer and there they told me about selling kidney for money. Since my family is poor, I sold my kidney for Rs 25,000. After one or two years of giving kidney I was able to work. But now I can't. I am suffering from pains and I have to take tablets everyday."
On December 7, 2007, Directorate of Medical Services (DMS) of Tamil Nadu began an enquiry with other Organ Transplant (OT) license holders in the state to take stock of the situation.
The additional director was quoted by news agencies as saying that OT licences of at least three city hospitals were suspended. The official said over 1,000 surgeries were conducted in these hospitals.
A shameful past
However, this is not an isolated incident. On October 11, 2007, a Chennai-based doctor was in Mumbai for his alleged involvement in a kidney racket. [Read Story]
Police suspected Dr P Ravichandran, of the St Thomas Hospital may be just one link in a large international network.
Ravichandran allegedly lured people into donating kidneys, which were then sold to recipients in the Gulf for a huge profit.
Ravichandran's undoing turned out to be a donor he tried to cheat. While he was promised Rs 4 lakh, the donor only received only Rs 25,000. Upset, the donor reported the doctor to the police.
In June 2007, CNN-IBN exposed how women in a tsunami colony sell their kidneys to make ends meet. [Read Story]
Struggling to make ends meet, these women trade their kidneys for a paltry sum and more often than not are also cheated by their brokers.
The Chennai Police said they were probing four big hospitals in the city in connection with the case.
"This has nothing to do with the tsunami. There are those who have sold their kidneys much before the tsunami. We will submit a detailed report to the concerned authorities,” Commissioner, Chennai City Police, Latika Saran had said.
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/tamil-nadus-shame-kidneys-on-sale-for-rs-25000/55664-17.html
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