Mumbai: The state government on Friday informed the Bombay high court that it had withdrawn the April 11 circular which put the onus of verifying documents and identity cards of organ donors on hospitals. A Pune-based hospital association had approached the high court stating that hospitals could only ascertain the compatibility of potential donors and recipients, and it was not equipped to ascertain the legality of the transactions between the donor and recipient or verify their identities.
The state, through advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, informed the HC that the circular needed to be fine-tuned and hence it was being withdrawn. He further said that a revised circular would be issued in accordance with the law, as directed by the high court.
The division bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Madhav Jamdar, which was hearing the writ petition filed by the Association of Hospitals in Pune through advocate SR Nargolkar, had been informed that the April 11 circular by the state government directing hospitals to verify the identities of the donors and recipients and ascertain the legality of the financial transactions between the two was not feasible.
Nargolkar had submitted that in light of the Organ Transplant Act, the hospitals were competent to ascertain the compatibility of the donor and recipient but could not verify the identities or the financial transactions between the donor and recipient.
Nargolkar had submitted that the hospitals were not equipped to verify the authenticity or veracity of the government documents being produced and submitted by the two hence the circular which made it mandatory for the hospitals to verify the same was not valid.
In the previous hearing on April 27, the AG had assured the court that a revised circular would be issued and hence on Friday submitted the draft before the bench. However, after perusing the draft of the circular, the bench noted that it was no different from the April 11 circular and hence the state should withdraw the same immediately.
The court further directed the state to ensure that the revised circular and guidelines for hospitals carrying out organ transplants were in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
Thereafter, the AG submitted that the state would withdraw the April 11 circular as well as the draft circular and adhere to the court instructions whenever the new circular was issued. The court accepted the same and disposed of the petition as withdrawn.
Hospitals, meanwhile, welcomed the state government’s decision to withdraw the circular. Joy Chakraborty, COO, PD Hinduja Hospital, said, “It is a good gesture by the government to withdraw the circular. We hope the new amended circular will meet every stakeholder’s interest and be helpful for the patients.”
“Withdrawal of new guidelines is indeed a relief to the hospitals as its continuation would have adversely impacted the pace and number of organ transplants in the state/city. We hope that govt lays down the revised guidelines for the future that will strengthen the transplant program in the state,” said Dr Manish Gupta, medical director, Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital-Powai.
Post the circular, the private hospitals were being cautious and many decided to only take up cases where doctors know the patients. “We do not have a mechanism to validate the originality of the documents submitted by the patient and the relatives. Since the onus was on us, we decided to only go ahead with transplants of the patients who have been with us for a long time. We are happy that the circular has been withdrawn,” said the CEO of a well-known South Mumbai Hospital which has a robust kidney-liver-heart transplant programme.