PIL in Delhi HC to make easy organ transplant act

After bursting multi-million rupees kidney racket in the National Capital Region, now a Public Interest Litigation has been filed in Delhi High Court on February 12 to attract the court’s attention to order the government to make easy organ transplant act so that the donors feel no hesitation and uncomforting to donate their organs.

PIL has also urged to the court to force the government to repair the major loopholes in complex but imperfect Human Organ Transplant Act, 1994, so that the illegal organ trade can be checked out.

Besides this, it is also mentioned in the PIL to order or direct the central and state government to scrap the high imposed custom duties and taxes on the dialysis kit, which is the main reason that forces the patients and their relatives to move towards illegal transplantation.

The one-time charge of single dialysis is Rs.2500-3500 depending on the nature of dialysis and charges of hospitals. While complete chronic kidney failure patients needs 2-3 dialysis per week comprising 10-14 dialysis per months. For which, as much as Rs. 25,000-35,000 is required to treat the kidney failure patient.

Social activist Rahul Verma and advocate Rakesh Prabhakar, jointly filed a PIL in the Delhi High court on Tuesday to impeach Central government, state government, Medical Council of India, Health Ministry, Law Ministry and all those which is directly or indirectly liable for human organ transplant act.

Petitioners have asked the court to give direction to Central and State government, Health and Law Ministry and MCI to make a fund for the chronic renal failure patients to support them in their treatment and also appealed to make mandatory for the government hospitals to provide full-fledged facility with absolutely free or minimal charges to the kidney failure patients.

PIL has also included the raw condition of environment, contaminated drinks and food adulteration that are proving the major reasons of kidney failure and other hazardous diseases.

The increasing volume of arsenic, lead and fluoride poisoning are bursting our kidney and hearts, a medical journal reports said.

The PIL has also attracted the court’s attention towards doctor’s duty, who feels insecurity to declare a patient ‘brain dead’. Many times, the relatives of the patients become fury and violent, which force the doctors to do like that.

If the doctor declares the patient ‘brain dead’ in time and motivates the relatives of the dead person to donate the organs charitably, the problems of apathy of organs can be solved up to high extent.

The petitioners have also included a clause in their petition, to direct the law ministry to make more generous the ‘Human Organ Transplant Act’ to waive off the rate of illegal transplantation.

"If someone wants to take a kidney from some one the procedure is so lengthy. They have to approach the courts, get some affidavit. So there is a lot of stress," said advocate Rakesh Prabhakar, who has filed the PIL.

The main demands of PIL:

• All government hospitals and medical colleges should create an approved time frame infrastructure and protocols so that organs of brain-dead patient can be automatically retrieved. • The Act should be changed so that patients who require organ transplant benefit from it. • There should be a medico-legal panel of experts headed by a retired Chief Justice of Supreme Court to control the Act.

What Law says?

According to ‘Human Organ Transplant Act, 1994, under section 19, these offences are punishable, whoever:

• Makes or receives any payment for the supply of, or for an offer to supply, any human organ • Seeks to find a person willing to supply for payment any human organ • Offers to supply organs for payment • Initiates or negotiates any arrangement involving the making of any payment for the supply of, or for an offer to supply, any human organs • Takes part in the management or control of a body of persons, whether a society, firm or company • publishes or distributes or causes to be published or distributed any advertisement (1) inviting persons to supply for payment any human organ; (2) offering to supply any human organ for payment; or (3) indicating that the advertiser is willing to initiate or negotiate any arrangement referred to in clause (4) shall be punishable with a term of imprisonment ranging from two to seven years or with a fine not less than Rs.10,000 and not greater than Rs.20,000.

The Complexities in this Act: The act defines only two category of donors, first who, the bloodedly related to the patients and secondly who, willing to donate his/her organ but not having any relationship must have to prove his/her affection to the beneficiary.

Besides this, the violation of Organ transplant act is non-congnisable that means the police cannot look into complaints of kidney trading independently but must wait for a complaint to be made by the Appropriate Authority set up under the Act or by an officer authorised by it or by an individual who has given prior notice of not less than 60 days to the Appropriate Authority.

The long and hectic way of legal organ transplantation moves the people towards the ‘illegal organ trading’.