City police bungle, organs go waste
At a time when relatives of brain dead patients are coming forward to donate organs, here is an incident of police officials bungling and wasting precious organs of an accident victim. A pair of kidneys, liver, heart and lungs, which otherwise would have saved a few lives, had to be wasted as the police officials refused to give permission for harvesting the organs.
Palani Kumar (35), a resident of Ambedkar Nagar, Yelahanka, received head injuries in a road accident near Chikkajala. The doctors at BGS Global Hospital, where he was being treated, declared Palani brain dead on March 29. Hospital authorities counseled Palini’s family members on organ donation and informed the Zonal Coordination Committee of Karnataka for Transplantation (ZCCK). The approval of Chikkajala police was necessary as the victim was involved in an accident. But police officials had no clue about organ donation and wanted to know how Palani was breathing with the help of ventilator if he was brain dead.
Palani’s father Narashima Murthy said: “Once we realised it was a noble cause, we held consultations within the family and took a decision to donate the organs. Palani was working as a tailor and is survived by wife and two small children.”
Dr Mathew Jacob, Senior Consultant, Liver Transplant Surgery, BGS Global Hospital, said: “The Transplantation of Human Organs Act 1994 specifies that after the consent of parents and relatives, we have to inform the police station concerned before harvesting the organs. But the police refused to give the approval.” He said, “The organs have to be retrieved within 24 hours of declaring a person brain dead, otherwise the organs start deteriorating. As the process was delayed, the organs were lost.” Transplant coordinators from ZCCK, doctors from the hospital and Palani’s father waited at the police station for over eight hours, trying to convince the police. In such medico-legal cases, police officials have to conduct the inquest, but they were confused. We were running short of time and the long wait was of no use" said Dr Ramesh, Secretary, ZCCK.
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