India to probe Apollo Hospital Delhi's alleged links to 'cash for kidneys' scandal

Indraprastha Medical

06/12/2023 06:56

By Aditya Kalra and Rishika  Sadam
       NEW DELHI/HYDERABAD, Dec 6 (Reuters) - India's health
ministry has ordered a probe into Apollo Hospital Delhi, part of
largest private hospital chain Apollo Hospitals  APLH.NS , after
media reports linked it to the illegal sale by Myanmar nationals
of their kidneys for organ transplants.
    The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation
(NOTTO), which falls under the health ministry, has asked Delhi
Health Secretary S B Deepak Kumar to "get the matter examined,
take appropriate action ... and furnish an action-taken report
within a week", according to a letter seen by Reuters.
    A committee was being formed to probe the matter and details
of donors and patients have been sought from the hospital, Kumar
told local media. Reuters was unable to reach Kumar.
    Apollo Hospitals did not immediately respond to a Reuters
request for comment.
    Indraprastha Medical Corp  IMCL.NS , an associate of Apollo
which manages its two hospitals in the capital region of Delhi,
said it had initiated an inquiry into the matter and called the
allegations against it "absolutely false, ill-informed and
misleading".
    A report in Britain's Telegraph accused Apollo of being
embroiled in a "cash for kidneys" scandal in which young
villagers from Myanmar were being flown to its Delhi hospital
and enticed to sell their kidneys to rich Burmese patients. 
    The Myanmar government did not respond to Reuters request
for comment. 
    Chennai-based chain Apollo, which runs over 70 hospitals
across India, performed 1,641 solid organ transplants in 2022,
according to company data. The hospital also treats foreign
patients who fly into India. 

 (Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Rishika Sadam; editing by Miral
Fahmy)
 ((Rishika.S@thomsonreuters.com;))