Indian government to investigate alleged cash-for-kidney scam in Apollo Hospital

Indian authorities have ordered a probe after reports emerged that a hospital in the Indian capital New Delhi was allegedly “embroiled” in trade of kidneys, an official told Anadolu.

The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization, which falls under the Indian Health Ministry, has asked the Delhi government to probe the alleged cash-for-kidney racket.

The probe has come after a report in London-based daily The Telegraph alleged that “one of the world’s biggest private hospital groups is ’embroiled in a cash for kidneys’ racket in which impoverished people from Myanmar are being enticed to sell their organs for profit.”

“The scam involves the elaborate forging of identity documents and staging of ‘family’ photographs to present donors as the relatives of would-be patients. Under Indian and Burmese laws, a patient cannot receive an organ donation from a stranger in normal circumstances,” the report said.

It said the investigation revealed “desperate young villagers from Myanmar are being flown to Apollo’s prestigious Delhi hospital and paid to donate their kidneys to rich Burmese patients.”

Indraprastha Medical Corporation Limited (IMCL), which manages the hospital, however, rejected the allegations.