Reading the papers for the last few days has got me
thinking. I am referring to the Organ Donation Racket that has been unearthed
in Tamil Nadu.
And this is in a state that is lauded for its Cadaver Transplant
system that is efficient and transparent.
What did the articles have me thinking about? It is this: We
are a nation of 1.2 Billion people, with a crude death rate of 8 (No. of ppl
per 1000 ppl who die) corresponding to 9.6 million dead people every year. And
yet, most people on the Organ waitlist have to wait a long time or resort to
the illegal market to access the organs.
The solution I am suggesting is a bit radical and as many of
you may think mad/crazy.
The idea is very simply this: Compulsory organ harvesting
from cadavers. I mean remove the getting permission of the deceased’s relatives
for organ harvesting.
The immediate question that will be raised is, won’t this
make it possible to easily cover medical negligence or errors? The organs will
be harvested immediately, leaving no proof of what was done.
The solution to the above problem is that the deceased’s
relative, in case they suspect any irregularities should file an official
complaint within 2 hours of death or the organs will be harvested.
In case, a complaint is filed, the cadaver must be frozen. A
preliminary investigation must be done to check validity of the complaint by a
competent team of doctors and if required a post-mortem must be done within 16
hours of death. Why within 16 hours of death? Because, tissues must be
harvested with 24 hours of death. Tissues are specific parts of an organ like
cornea, heart valves, skin, bones etc. These tissues can be used for
transplantation or for research.
The organ/tissue harvest harvesting must be done by doctors
who have specialized in this field. This will make sure that the body that is
handed over to the deceased’s relatives bears no or minimal external marks of
the surgeries. This will make it more acceptable for a lot of the people.
I know that the idea sounds draconian, but it is the need of
the day. Isn't it a crime that a body that has healthy organs is burnt/buried
rather then used to save some other precious lives?
Imagine it was you or someone close to you who is waiting
for an organ/tissue and so many go to waste every day?
Of course, for my idea to work there should be robust system
in place at each district level and going up to the national level.
The system involves having teams of specialist doctors who
will harvest the organs, tissues. Teams of doctors, who will investigate the complaints.
Mechanism to enable people to register complaints easily. System to prosecute
people who have filed vexatious complaints even if there is no probable case to
prevent people from simply filing cases to swamp the system. Registry of people
waiting for organs/tissues at each district/state/region and national levels.
Registry of universities/research companies that need organs/tissues for
research. And a
thousand other details that will come up, no doubt.
The best way forward would be to put in place the systems for
organ harvesting without compulsory organ harvesting but only volunteered. And
once chinks in the system have been ironed out, the compulsory organ harvesting
can be rolled out.
