Kidney scam: DHS finds health dept babu ‘negligent’

The final report by the Directorate of Health Services (DHS), which is part of the chargesheet filed by the Powai police in the kidney-donation racket unearthed in July, implicates Dr B.P. Kadam, assistant director of health, DHS as being “negligent” in his duties. The report lists discrepancies in Dr Kadam’s account of how the Local Authorisation Committee’s (LAC’s) meetings for kidney transplant patients were conducted. Interestingly, though the DHS finds fault with Dr Kadam, he has not been named an accused or witness in the chargesheet.

Dr Kadam had attended a meeting of the LAC as a government representative in the transplant surgery of the accused — Shobha Thakur and Brijkishore Jaiswal. Dr Kadam had allegedly attended the meeting as a replacement for Dr Babulgaonkar, who was on leave.

The panel reveals that despite having admitted to knowing the rules under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act (THOA), Dr Kadam failed to “thoroughly check” the documents submitted by the donor and the recipient.

It adds that there is a clear contrast in his answers to the panel and the evidence available.

“He said he asked the donor whether she was going ahead willingly or was being forced into it and also about the risks involved in the procedure. But when we referred to the video of the LAC meeting, we noticed he has not asked a single question,” states the report.

While the DHS report mentions that Dr Kadam did not follow rules under the THOA, it says that “since he is a government employee, an appropriate authority (which in this case is not police) needs to take a decision in the matter.”

Doctor wanted in other cases Dr Vinod Patel, declared a wanted accused in the chargesheet filed by the Powai police, is allegedly one of kingpins in organ donation rackets in various states. Patel’s name crops up in the witness statement of Usha Patel, a friend of Shobha Thakur, an accused in the case. Usha revealed that Patel had introduced him to Thakur, who convinced her to sell her kidney. Patel is said to be wanted by the Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai police in different kidney rackets that he has allegedly been a part of.