Tamil Nadu: Waiting for transplant, desperate patients fall in scamsters' trap
Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu clarifies that no patient is given preference based on their social status or income, rather a computerised system in place to ensure transparency
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CHENNAI: The plight of many families losing money to scamsters to get first preference in organ donation or donors for patients continues despite numerous warnings from the state health department.
It is to be noted that the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN) has also clarified that the organ donation is monitored through a proper computerised system and National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) and no preference is given to patients based on their social status, income, or influence.
Vivian Bernard Clements, a resident of Peravallur and a patient suffering from kidney disorder, was promised an organ donor by their relative *Jayaram (name changed) and his wife from Bengaluru. Vivian's mother, trusting Jayaram's assurance that a suitable donor would be found for her ailing son, transferred Rs 8 lakhs to them on August 10, 2023.
As Jayaram failed to deliver on his promise, the family realised that it was a scam and Vivian's mother lost the money. Despite being registered on the waiting list of the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu, he remains in fourth place for the donor at a hospital and 16,000th place overall on the Tamil Nadu waiting list.
“My elder son Vivian has been a kidney failure patient since 2020 and undergoing treatment and regular dialysis till now at a private hospital. We are facing a lot of financial issues and have been trying to find him a kidney donor for his transplant, as advised by the doctor. We followed the process informed to us by the hospital and registered on the organ donation waiting list. However, given that he is 35 years old and that he already had to undergo angioplasty, we wanted to do the transplant at the earliest,” said Vivian's mother, expressing her desperation to get the donor.
The mother added, “Besides the financial issues, we had to do angioplasty twice due to his deteriorating health and swelling of the hand because of the repeated dialysis. I was not aware of organ donation scams. I was thinking that the due process of the transplant would be followed and we could push the name on priority based on the age and urgency criteria.”
Vivian’s family had earlier also approached the health minister to help with obtaining a push on the waiting list for a transplant as he is young. However, he remains on the waitlist but with a little progress.
Later, the family relative Jayaram promised that the kidney transplantation could be done in a maximum of 15 days if they paid an amount of Rs 8 lakhs. Only after Jayaram refused to return the money, the family learnt that the organ transplantation cannot be prioritised by any individual's influence.
As per the organ transplant process, the hospitals register patients in need of transplants with TRANSTAN and they are added to a waiting list. The priority is given based on medical urgency, waiting time, and other factors related to the patient's health.
As and when an organ is available, TRANSTAN is notified and the organ is allocated to the next patient on the waiting list after a review. The organs are matched with recipients based on factors like blood group, tissue type, and medical compatibility.
In order to ensure transparency, TRANSTAN uses a computerised system to manage the waiting list and allocate organs. However, no preference is given to patients based on their social status, income, or influence.
While thousands of people are hoping to move ahead on the waiting list and get the right donor, numerous scams have come to light wherein ignorant people are targetted and duped of money.
Responding to the case, Dr N Gopalakrishnan, member-secretary of TRANSTAN, said that it is unfortunate that people believe such scammers and lose their money. “There is no way that anyone can manipulate the process and use their influence to gain priority for organ donation. There are 150 plus hospitals registered with TRANSTAN and the allocation of organs is under the watch of all the hospitals. In case of any such offers, the patient should at least confirm it with the hospital. The allocation of organs is done in a completely transparent manner,” said Dr Gopalakrishnan.
