New Delhi investigating alleged illegal transplants at Apollo hospital in city (updated)

Indraprastha Medical

06/12/2023 13:09

(Recasts first paragraph; adds comments from officials)
    By Rishika  Sadam and Aditya Kalra
       NEW DELHI/HYDERABAD, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The New Delhi
city government is investigating an Apollo hospital, part of
India's largest private hospital chain, after a media report
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 federal health ministry, had
written to the Delhi authorities following a report in Britain's
Telegraph that accused Apollo of being involved in a "cash for
kidneys" scandal involving villagers from Myanmar. 
    The report said young villagers from Myanmar were being
flown to its Delhi hospital and enticed to sell their kidneys to
rich Burmese patients. 
    Apollo Hospitals  APLH.NS  did not immediately respond to a
Reuters request for comment.
    In the report, based on an undercover reporter's
conversations with agents and Apollo officials from Myanmar,
Apollo Hospitals said it was "completely shocked" by the
newspaper's findings and would launch an internal investigation.
    "Any suggestion of our wilful complicity or implicit
sanctioning of any illegal activities relating to organ
transplants is wholly denied," the report quoted Apollo saying.
    NOTTO Director Anil Kumar told Reuters on Wednesday: "This
issue requires a deep investigation and concrete evidence before
deciding on the next course of action."
    Delhi Health Secretary S B Deepak Kumar told Reuters the
city was initiating a probe following an order from the federal
government.
    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".
    Indraprastha Medical will assist and provide all relevant
information and data to authorities when asked, though it was
yet to receive any indication from the authorities that the
investigation was under way, a source with direct knowledge of
the matter said. 
    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. 
    The Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Sarita Vihar in the
southeast of the city which is cited in the Telegraph report is
one of New Delhi's most renowned and popular private hospitals.

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