The Kerala High Court, on Tuesday, July 25, quashed the criminal case registered against a private hospital in Kochi and nine doctors for allegedly flouting the protocols for organ transplantation. A case was registered against the Aster Medcity hospital and nine doctors based on a complaint filed by Dr S Ganapathy.
In the complaint filed in 2021, he alleged that Aster Medcity and the doctors practising there did not adhere to the protocols prescribed for certifying brain death and harvesting organs for transplantation. He said that the provisions of Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994, were violated while performing organ transplant from a youngster Ajay Johny in 2019.
Ajay Johny met with a car accident in 2019 and was admitted to the hospital. Dr Ganapathy alleged that the doctors tried to transplant Ajay’s liver without confirming the death of Johny's brain stem. A court in Ernakulam took cognisance of the case and issued summons. It was then the hospital approached the High Court and after hearing the petitioners, the court quashed the criminal case against the hospital and the doctors.
Dr S Ganapathy also raised an alarm and filed a complaint stating that doctors of the Kochi Lakeshore hospital had, in 2009, transplanted organs of an 18-year old road accident victim without doing a mandatory test to confirm if he was indeed brain dead.
A complaint was also filed against Dr Ganapathy for his comments that no brain death was reported among the Muslim community because major hospitals were largely owned by Muslims themselves.
(With IANS inputs)