Transplanted into painful limbo
Patients, willing donors face frustrating wait as doctors' stir against arrests in Powai scam brings transplants to a halt.
‘What is our fault?’
Hitendra Rajput, a Dhule farmer with end-stage kidney disease, hurriedly arranged Rs 6 lakh for a transplant, which doctors told him would cost even more. Before he could tap relatives for another loan, he had to devote a significant sum from the pool to prolong his dialysis treatment, which requires him to travel 150 km three times a week.
Rajput’s struggle with treatment bills, falling wages on account of failing health, exhausting hospital trips, and daily compromises in an already altered life are the upsetting outcomes of the Powai kidney racket and the medical community’s baffling response to it.
Rajput, whose kidneys have shut down, was set for a transplant at a Mumbai hospital in July with his wife signing up as a donor, but the procedure could not take place because of doctors’ protest against their peers’ arrest in the kidney racket. All kidney transplants in the city are currently on hold and stories of more patients like Rajput have been published alongside this report. Their surgeries cannot take place without approval from the Transplant Authorisation Committees, which screen all patients’ applications. Medicos who are part of the panels have stopped attending screening meetings partly in protest against the arrests and partly because they fear they will be subjected to unfair scrutiny for decisions they thought helped save lives. In emails sent to their respective hospitals to explain their absence in the meetings, the protesting medicos said: “We don’t want to become the next Dr Chatterjee.”
They were referring to CEO of Powai’s LH Hiranandani Hospital, Dr Sujit Chatterjee, who was arrested with four others doctors in Aug, days after an illegal kidney transplant was attempted at the facility. The police allege the five men failed to vet the transplant application submitted by a fake couple who had struck a cash-for-kidney deal.
The medical fraternity says doctors cannot be expected to scrutinise paperwork; it’s the state's job.
Rajput was diagnosed with endstage kidney disease in July when he visited a hospital for what he thought were easily treatable health problems. But he had to be admitted to the emergency room of Parel’s Global Hospital. His 10-day stay and tests for a kidney transplant, including an examination that determined his wife’s kidney was a match, cost him Rs 3.5 lakh, the family said.
He was put on dialysis in the second week of July and the treatment was extended after the transplant could not take place. He receives dialysis treatment thrice a week and each session costs Rs 6,000. So far, the family has spent over Rs 6 lakh on Rajput’s treatment and it will need Rs 8 lakh for the transplant.
“I had planned to use all my savings and borrow from my relatives for the transplant. But most of the money has now been spent on dialysis and other expenses,” Rajput said.
Rajput’s cousin, Dhanraj, has a simple question for the medical community: “What is our mistake if some doctors were arrested?”
He revealed how the family had to make several trips to government offices to rectify inconsistencies in Rajput and his wife’s identification papers. “After we got everything in order, doctors told us all transplants are on hold,” Dhanraj said.
‘Life is tasteless’ for this baker
Peter Bothello was supposed to get his brother’s kidney this month; the doctor’s protest has put his dreams, and hopes of eating a normal meal, in limbo.
Peter Bothello (50) has been in the baking business for the past 30 years. Now, he can’t have salt or oil in his food, can’t drink tea or even more than 750 ml of water. He was looking forward to a better life as he was due to get a kidney transplant this month, but his dreams are now in limbo thanks to the doctors’ strike that has halted all such operations in the city.
So, the Marol resident, who runs a bakery factory nearby, has no option but to continue his routine of getting up at 5 am thrice a week, sit in a car and go to Hinduja Hospital at 7 am for a painful dialysis procedure, which involves lying down with three injections stuck in his body for three straight hours.
In November 2015, Dr Alan Almeida of P D Hinduja Hospital advised him to undergo a kidney transplant as his creatinine level was very high. He was lucky to find a willing donor within his own family, in the form of his younger brother Richard.
“I went through a number of tests and had to submit more than 70 documents with all relevant approvals. Finally, after two months and spending more than Rs 2 lakh, we got the approval for a kidney transplant in May,” said Bothello. Unfortunately, his problems were far from over.
“During the final check-up before the operation, I was diagnosed with four blockages in my heart. The cardiologist advised me to go through a bypass surgery. And my nephrologist said that the kidney transplant could be performed only three months after the bypass surgery,” said Bothello, who underwent the bypass surgery the same month.
“On September 6, I met Dr Almeida again with all the approved documents for the kidney transplant. I was told that no kidney transplant surgery is taking place in Mumbai due to the Hiranandani case,” said Bothello. “I think God is rude to me. I have lost all hope now. Sometimes, I wonder why I am even alive,” he said, breaking down. “I was in the business of food and I myself was a foodie, but now life has become tasteless. I can’t have tea, can’t drink more than 750 ml of water, can’t eat salt, oil... I mean nothing.”
Wife ready to donate kidney, but couple has to wait for transplant committee to meet
Nainesh Shah (49) quit his job in July when he was told that both his kidneys had stopped functioning and that he would need a kidney transplant.
The Kandivli resident did not have to look far to find a match - his wife Prateeksha was a willing donor.
But even after being ready with all documents and medical examinations, Shah’s transplant has been on hold. Reason: The local authorisation committee that gives approvals for transplants has not had a meeting since the kidney scam was unearthed at Powai’s Hiranandani Hospital.
“My wife and I have all the documents in place and all the medical tests have been carried out on us. The tests cost us over Rs 1.5 lakh. But our transplant has been put on hold as the hospital’s authorisation committee meeting is not taking place,” he said.
Shah’s kidney problems began three years ago and since then he has been on medication. It was in July this year that the doctors told him that his kidney function had stopped completely and he would either have to be on lifelong dialysis or undergo a transplant. “Since my wife agreed to donate her kidney and our blood group matched, we started the procedure for a transplant,” said Shah, who has been on dialysis twice a week since September.
“I have been home for the past two months as I would not get such long leave for the transplant. But now with the delay, I don’t know how much time it is going to take,” said Shah, who used to work in a marketing firm.
“I have completed eight dialysis cycles so far. I want to get back to work. My income has stopped. It is all very stressful for me and my family,” he said.
Another couple left in the lurch
Kishore Verma and wife Santosh are eagerly awaiting a resolution to the stalemate between doctors and the government, which has brought kidney transplants to a halt in the city.
Kishore, 60, was supposed to be operated in September, with his wife as the donor.
"I was lucky that my wife was a match and she became my donor,” said Kishore. The Malad resident, who is a civil contractor, has to now undergo dialysis thrice a week. “I cannot lead a good life. My business has gone down, my family is suffering and every minute I have to suffer pain,” he said.
Kishore and Santosh completed the tests and procedures required for the transplant in August.“As I had all the documents, I was confident that now my transplant will be done. When I met the doctor in September, I was crushed to know that due to the rift between doctors and the government, kidney transplants are not taking plac,” said Kishore, who is now desperately waiting for this deadlock to end.
Reports by Jyoti Shelar and Munish Pandey
‘What is our fault?’
Hitendra Rajput, a Dhule farmer with end-stage kidney disease, hurriedly arranged Rs 6 lakh for a transplant, which doctors told him would cost even more. Before he could tap relatives for another loan, he had to devote a significant sum from the pool to prolong his dialysis treatment, which requires him to travel 150 km three times a week.
The 48-year-old — with two school-going sons and a monthly income that has diminished to Rs 10,000 — may now have to approach moneylenders who charge usurious interest.
Rajput’s struggle with treatment bills, falling wages on account of failing health, exhausting hospital trips, and daily compromises in an already altered life are the upsetting outcomes of the Powai kidney racket and the medical community’s baffling response to it.
Rajput, whose kidneys have shut down, was set for a transplant at a Mumbai hospital in July with his wife signing up as a donor, but the procedure could not take place because of doctors’ protest against their peers’ arrest in the kidney racket. All kidney transplants in the city are currently on hold and stories of more patients like Rajput have been published alongside this report. Their surgeries cannot take place without approval from the Transplant Authorisation Committees, which screen all patients’ applications. Medicos who are part of the panels have stopped attending screening meetings partly in protest against the arrests and partly because they fear they will be subjected to unfair scrutiny for decisions they thought helped save lives. In emails sent to their respective hospitals to explain their absence in the meetings, the protesting medicos said: “We don’t want to become the next Dr Chatterjee.”
They were referring to CEO of Powai’s LH Hiranandani Hospital, Dr Sujit Chatterjee, who was arrested with four others doctors in Aug, days after an illegal kidney transplant was attempted at the facility. The police allege the five men failed to vet the transplant application submitted by a fake couple who had struck a cash-for-kidney deal.
The medical fraternity says doctors cannot be expected to scrutinise paperwork; it’s the state's job.
Rajput was diagnosed with endstage kidney disease in July when he visited a hospital for what he thought were easily treatable health problems. But he had to be admitted to the emergency room of Parel’s Global Hospital. His 10-day stay and tests for a kidney transplant, including an examination that determined his wife’s kidney was a match, cost him Rs 3.5 lakh, the family said.
He was put on dialysis in the second week of July and the treatment was extended after the transplant could not take place. He receives dialysis treatment thrice a week and each session costs Rs 6,000. So far, the family has spent over Rs 6 lakh on Rajput’s treatment and it will need Rs 8 lakh for the transplant.
“I had planned to use all my savings and borrow from my relatives for the transplant. But most of the money has now been spent on dialysis and other expenses,” Rajput said.
Rajput’s cousin, Dhanraj, has a simple question for the medical community: “What is our mistake if some doctors were arrested?”
He revealed how the family had to make several trips to government offices to rectify inconsistencies in Rajput and his wife’s identification papers. “After we got everything in order, doctors told us all transplants are on hold,” Dhanraj said.
‘Life is tasteless’ for this baker
Peter Bothello was supposed to get his brother’s kidney this month; the doctor’s protest has put his dreams, and hopes of eating a normal meal, in limbo.
Peter Bothello (50) has been in the baking business for the past 30 years. Now, he can’t have salt or oil in his food, can’t drink tea or even more than 750 ml of water. He was looking forward to a better life as he was due to get a kidney transplant this month, but his dreams are now in limbo thanks to the doctors’ strike that has halted all such operations in the city.
So, the Marol resident, who runs a bakery factory nearby, has no option but to continue his routine of getting up at 5 am thrice a week, sit in a car and go to Hinduja Hospital at 7 am for a painful dialysis procedure, which involves lying down with three injections stuck in his body for three straight hours.
In November 2015, Dr Alan Almeida of P D Hinduja Hospital advised him to undergo a kidney transplant as his creatinine level was very high. He was lucky to find a willing donor within his own family, in the form of his younger brother Richard.
“I went through a number of tests and had to submit more than 70 documents with all relevant approvals. Finally, after two months and spending more than Rs 2 lakh, we got the approval for a kidney transplant in May,” said Bothello. Unfortunately, his problems were far from over.
“During the final check-up before the operation, I was diagnosed with four blockages in my heart. The cardiologist advised me to go through a bypass surgery. And my nephrologist said that the kidney transplant could be performed only three months after the bypass surgery,” said Bothello, who underwent the bypass surgery the same month.
“On September 6, I met Dr Almeida again with all the approved documents for the kidney transplant. I was told that no kidney transplant surgery is taking place in Mumbai due to the Hiranandani case,” said Bothello. “I think God is rude to me. I have lost all hope now. Sometimes, I wonder why I am even alive,” he said, breaking down. “I was in the business of food and I myself was a foodie, but now life has become tasteless. I can’t have tea, can’t drink more than 750 ml of water, can’t eat salt, oil... I mean nothing.”
Wife ready to donate kidney, but couple has to wait for transplant committee to meet
Nainesh Shah (49) quit his job in July when he was told that both his kidneys had stopped functioning and that he would need a kidney transplant.
The Kandivli resident did not have to look far to find a match - his wife Prateeksha was a willing donor.
But even after being ready with all documents and medical examinations, Shah’s transplant has been on hold. Reason: The local authorisation committee that gives approvals for transplants has not had a meeting since the kidney scam was unearthed at Powai’s Hiranandani Hospital.
“My wife and I have all the documents in place and all the medical tests have been carried out on us. The tests cost us over Rs 1.5 lakh. But our transplant has been put on hold as the hospital’s authorisation committee meeting is not taking place,” he said.
Shah’s kidney problems began three years ago and since then he has been on medication. It was in July this year that the doctors told him that his kidney function had stopped completely and he would either have to be on lifelong dialysis or undergo a transplant. “Since my wife agreed to donate her kidney and our blood group matched, we started the procedure for a transplant,” said Shah, who has been on dialysis twice a week since September.
“I have been home for the past two months as I would not get such long leave for the transplant. But now with the delay, I don’t know how much time it is going to take,” said Shah, who used to work in a marketing firm.
“I have completed eight dialysis cycles so far. I want to get back to work. My income has stopped. It is all very stressful for me and my family,” he said.
Another couple left in the lurch
Kishore Verma and wife Santosh are eagerly awaiting a resolution to the stalemate between doctors and the government, which has brought kidney transplants to a halt in the city.
Kishore, 60, was supposed to be operated in September, with his wife as the donor.
"I was lucky that my wife was a match and she became my donor,” said Kishore. The Malad resident, who is a civil contractor, has to now undergo dialysis thrice a week. “I cannot lead a good life. My business has gone down, my family is suffering and every minute I have to suffer pain,” he said.
Kishore and Santosh completed the tests and procedures required for the transplant in August.“As I had all the documents, I was confident that now my transplant will be done. When I met the doctor in September, I was crushed to know that due to the rift between doctors and the government, kidney transplants are not taking plac,” said Kishore, who is now desperately waiting for this deadlock to end.
Reports by Jyoti Shelar and Munish Pandey
