Organ transplantation row: Kerala Pvt hospital denies wrongdoing

Kochi, June 15 (IANS) A day after a Kerala court issued summons to the Lakeshore Hospital and its eight doctors over alleged illegal organ transplantation, the hospital on Thursday reiterated its full cooperation and compliance with the ongoing probe to ensure that all facts are revealed through a "thorough and impartial" examination.

S. Ganapathy, a doctor from Kollam, had filed a complaint based on a newspaper article about an organ transplant carried out in 2009 from a brain dead 21-year-old who had met with a very serious accident.

The recipient was a foreign national.

Following the court's intervention, the hospital in a statement said that the authorities have ordered an investigation to determine the validity of the complaint made by a private individual in the incident that happened around 13 years ago.

In 2009, when the incident occurred, the only registered body in Kerala promoting cadaver organ donation was the Society for Organ Retrieval & Transplantation (SORT).

The hospital pledged its wholehearted cooperation with the investigation and stated that all what they did then was in compliance with the Transplantation of Human Organs Act (THO).

"All investigations were conducted in the presence of two witnesses, and written consent for organ retrieval was obtained from the patient's mother. The hospital authorities sought assistance from SORT, Kochi, and acted under their written advice in retrieving cadaveric organs," reads the statement.

The hospital asserted that during the incident, they strictly followed medical procedures, organ donation laws, and human rights laws. It regretted the circulation of false information about the hospital which has been providing exemplary emergency care services for over 20 years, and their ultimate goal is to ensure that all patients receive the best possible treatment.