ANANI SAMPATH | DC CHENNAI, DEC. 11 Tamil Nadu has an impres- sive record in cadaver organ transplant. So much so, that the rest of India looks up to and wants to emulate it in this field of humanity. Most other states want to achieve Tamil Nadu’s deceased donor rate of [...]]]> From Deccan Chronicle 12/12/2011

ANANI SAMPATH | DC
CHENNAI, DEC. 11
Tamil Nadu has an impres-
sive record in cadaver organ
transplant. So much so, that
the rest of India looks up to
and wants to emulate it in
this field of humanity.
Most other states want to
achieve
Tamil
Nadu’s
deceased donor rate of 1.3 per
million – the national average
is 0.5 to 0.8 per.
But of late, something has
gone wrong for the leader.
Though TN crossed the 1,000-
donor mark in April, the
number of transplants in the
state has fallen drastically in
the past few months.
The state had recorded 523
transplants last year, includ-
ing 250 major ones such as
heart, liver, lungs and kid-
neys.
This year, however, it had
recorded only 383 transplants
till November 2011. Of these,
195 were major. With yearend
days away, last year’s dona-
tion gala seems to be all but
over.
“The procedure has lost
steam only over the past four
months. In July, we hardlyhad time to sleep as we did as
many as 14 transplants and
our half yearly average was
seven to eight cases a month.
But in November, we did only
four cases and the month
before that just one,” said Dr
Amalorpavanathan,
chief
transplant coordinator at the
government
hospital
in
Chennai.
The reasons for the dip are
many. Superstition and reli-
gious restrictions for one still
hinder grief counsellors
approaching families of
prospective donors.
However, the most common
reason families refuse to
donate organs is the wait to
take bodies home. Sometimes
it takes three days to a week
to complete formalities and
paperwork before organs are
harvested and a body
released for last rites.
Doctors admit awareness
needs to be created among
paramedical staff rather than
the public.
“Early identification of
brain dead cases is needed.
Yes, TN is a pioneer in cadav-
er organ transplant, but a lot
more needs to be done,” said
Dr Amal.

CHENNAI: Last week, when the country observed the national organ donation week, many states planned to emulate the Tamil Nadu model. But experts say the state still has a long way to go as many people continue to die for want of organs.

This year, the state cadaver organ registry will conduct two [...]]]> From http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/State-organ-registry-to-compile-data-on-transplants/articleshow/11026573.cms

CHENNAI: Last week, when the country observed the national organ donation week, many states planned to emulate the Tamil Nadu model. But experts say the state still has a long way to go as many people continue to die for want of organs.

This year, the state cadaver organ registry will conduct two major studies-one on the requirement of organs and another to see the outcome of organ transplants done so far. “We don’t have data on how many organs are required so we don’t know how much we fall short of,” said registry convener Dr J Amalorpavanathan.

From October 2008 to October 2011, 215 brain dead patients donated their organs to the registry. Surgeons have harvested 35 hearts, four lungs, 190 livers, 399 kidneys, 268 heart valves, 333 cornea and skin from one person. At least 1,230 people have benefitted.

But many doctors say they have lost patients who were on the waiting list. For instance, Apollo Hospitals liver transplant surgeon Dr Anand K Khakhar said at least 15% of his patients on the waiting list die. The hospital currently has more than 100 patients waitlisted for a liver transplant. “On luckier days, we do about five liver transplants but we lose many patients. It’s sad because we know a good liver can change their lives,” he said.

There is also a lack of transplant teams didn’t help the situation either. Cardiac surgeons say more than 90% of the hearts had to be wasted because there aren’t enough heart transplant teams in the state. Also, when the donor is an accident victim, forensic experts say that hearts can’t be donated as the body has to be sent for postmortem. “It’s a complex issue. On several occasions, we have moved our patients from the pre-operative rooms back to the wards because the hearts don’t come,” said heart transplant surgeon Dr K M Cherian, who heads Frontier Lifeline.

At the advisory meeting of the registry, the officials promised to urge the government to relax postmortem norms further and urged surgeons to make judicious use of organs. They said the waiting list should be updated constantly. Currently, the organ registry does not have data on how many patients benefitted from it.

They said they will employ an external agency to study the outcome of every transplant done with organs given by the registry. Most countries employ non-medical persons such as mathematicians and statisticians to compile the data. The registry plans to get help from Anna University or IIT-M to study the data. “It’s time we compiled the data. It will help us standardise transplant surgeries. We must plan ahead,” said liver transplant surgeon Dr R Surendran.

MUMBAI: Taking a leaf out of Tamil Nadu’s health programme, the state government will soon roll out a plan to boost cadaveric organ donation in Maharashtra.

From seeking audits of brain-stem death patients in hospitals to sensitizing the police, state authorities on Saturday prepared a wish list in order to increase cadaver donations. [...]]]> From http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/State-plans-TN-model-for-cadaver-donation-in-Maha/articleshow/10977147.cms

MUMBAI: Taking a leaf out of Tamil Nadu’s health programme, the state government will soon roll out a plan to boost cadaveric organ donation in Maharashtra.

From seeking audits of brain-stem death patients in hospitals to sensitizing the police, state authorities on Saturday prepared a wish list in order to increase cadaver donations. The plan was drawn up between government officials and doctors representing the zonal transplantation coordination committee (ZTCC), which oversees distribution of cadaveric organs in Mumbai, at a meeting held on Saturday. While Mumbai was the first city in India to conduct a cadaveric kidney donation in 1997, few donors have come forward in recent years.

On the other hand, Tamil Nadu has gone from being the hub of illegal kidney rackets, until a few years ago, to a model state that registers around 100 organ donations annually. Dr Pravin Shingare, acting head of the department of medical education and research , said, “Our first step will be to call up CEOs of private hospitals and ask them why they don’t send a list of brain deaths.”

The hospitals will then be given a three-month period to start reporting brain deaths or face punitive action. “We want to alter guidelines to make them more people-friendly ,” said ZTCC secretary general Dr Sujata Patwardhan. On Saturday, Tamil Nadu’s cadaver transplant programme coordinator Dr J Amalorpavanathan gave a presentation on the steps taken to increase cadaveric transplants.

In a bid to increase organ don at i o n , the Maharashtra government is planning to adopt what is increasingly being called across the country as the Tamil Nadu model. The southern state has managed to increase organ donation by deceased donor or brain-dead donors in the [...]]]> by Malathy Iyer |
From TNN

In a bid to increase organ don at i o n , the Maharashtra government
is planning to adopt what is increasingly being called across the
country as the Tamil Nadu model. The southern state has managed to
increase organ donation by deceased donor or brain-dead donors in the
last couple of years.
“We have studied Tamil Nadu’s rules and are in the process of
adopting a few of them,’’ said Dr Pravin Shingare, acting director of
the Department of Medical Education who is also the secretary of the
Maharashtra Confederation For Organ Transplant (MCFOT).
The state government is keen on two ‘imported’ ideas. The first is
clearing the road for any ambulance or private vehicle carrying the
deceased donor or retrieved organs, and the second involves
recognizing already existing hospitals and nursing homes—with over
25-beds and intensive care units—as retrieval centres.
In fact, the man who has been credited with increasing cadaver
donation in Tamil Nadu, Dr J Amalorpavanathan, will address the Zonal
Transplant Cadaver Centre (ZTCC) at KEM Hospital on Saturday.
ZTCC chief Dr Sujata Patwardhan told TOI that the centre would be
happy if at least a couple of Tamil Nadu’s rules were adopted in
Maharashtra. “It would be great if we could recognize more centres for
organ retrieval. It would also be useful if Maharashtra has
on-the-spot recognition for such centres,’’ said Dr Patwardhan. So,
any hospital with an ICU setup that has a brain-dead patient can get
recognition at that moment to facilitate retrieval.
Dr Bharat Shah, a nephrologist with Lilavati Hospital in Bandra
said that the cadaver donation programme across the country cannot
improve unless the Tamil Nadu model is adopted. “With a simple move of
registering all hospitals in the state with 25 beds and ICU as
non-transplant organ retrieval centres, Tamil Nadu has increased its
deceased donor programme since 2008. It retrieves around 300 organs a
year as compared to 30 in Mumbai.’’
A senior doctor with a municipal-run hospital is hopeful that the
state government will adopt the Tamil Nadu rule in which a post-mortem
doctor goes to the hospital where the brain-dead person is admitted.
“It is emotionally draining for family members who have donated their
loved one’s organ to take the body to a designated postmortem centre.
The wait to get the body back is long is some cases,’’ the doctor
said.
Another city doctor felt that the state should take up sensitizing
the police force to ensure speedy paperwork for organ retrieval.
The Maharashtra government has already identified nine hospitals
with ICUs that can act as retrieval centres. “We are waiting for the
paperwork to be submitted,’’ said Dr Shingare.

On The Fast Track?

Mumbai registers less than 30 transplants using cadaver or deceased
donor programme in a year
Tamil Nadu registers little less than 300 transplants using retrieved
organs in a year
The state is keen on two ‘imported’ ideas. The first is clearing the
road for any ambulance or private vehicle carrying the deceased donor
or retrieved organs, and the second involves recognizing already
existing hospitals and nursing homes with over 25-beds and ICUs as
retrieval centres
Doctors are hoping that the state government will adopt the Tamil Nadu
rule wherein a post-mortem doctor goes to the hospital where the
brain-dead person is admitted

Times View

The number of patients with organ failure—be it kidney, liver or
heart— has been steadily increasing across the country. Not
surprisingly, the demand for organ replacement led to the infamous
Indian kidney bazaar where organs could be bought in the black market
at a premium. The Indian Human Organ Transplant Act managed to bring
about some order, but various states interpreted the rules a little
differently. Red-tape is slowing down the process of inter-state
transplants even within the same family. To ensure that India’s large
patient pool has access to a better quality of life, the government
would do well to not only address these issues but even promote the
deceased donor programme a bit more aggressively.

Too much red tape in Maharashtra?

There are limited centres for retrieval of organs from deceased donors
(braindead patients); roughly 28
In a medico-legal case such as a road accident, a clearance is needed
from the police station where the accident took place. So, even if a
patient who is brain dead is in a tertiary care hospital in south
Mumbai after an accident in, say, Turbhe, the family has to travel all
the way to the Navi Mumbai locality to get the required clearance
The deceased donor’s family has to take the body to the nearest public
hospital with a designated centre to carry out the post-mortem

An effective system in Tamil Nadu

Every medical set-up with an Intensive Care Unit that can support
brain dead patients medically, is authorized to retrieve solid organs
The police have been instructed to give clearances within two hours
A government doctor qualified to do post-mortem will go to the
hospital where the brain dead patient is admitted

From http://www.telegraphindia.com/1111113/jsp/7days/story_14743553.jsp

West Bengal has become a hub of trade in human kidneys — so much so that kidney transplant patients from other parts of India and even abroad are flocking to Calcutta in search of organs for sale. Hemchhaya De investigates the nexus among touts, hospitals and even doctors that’s fuelling the trade

Srikanta does not beat around the bush. After all, it’s a matter of life and death and spells big money for him. “Her kidney size is 10-11cm,” he says in a business-like way. “Normally, 9cm is considered a healthy organ. So she will give you a healthier kidney,” says the 30-something man dressed in a crisp white and blue striped shirt. Accompanying him is Meghna, a petite woman in her mid-twenties, who hails from Canning in West Bengal. Srikanta is peddling kidneys. Meghna’s fresh young kidney, to be precise. He is meeting a prospective buyer in a snazzy mall on the southern fringes of the city. Srikanta is, in fact, a tout or middleman who finds organ donors for patients in need of kidney transplants, especially those who cannot — or will not — get a family member to donate a precious kidney. Kidney sale is banned by law in India and draws stringent punishment. But the likes of Srikanta and Meghna don’t seem to care about that. The deal is finally struck at Rs 3 lakh for a kidney and some extra money for forging documents. While Srikanta doesn’t divulge his “cut” from the deal, Meghna says she needs the money to pay off her debts and make ends meet as her husband is out of work and she recently lost her job in a telesales company. The interaction with Srikanta and Meghna gives one a glimpse into how organ trade is being carried out with impunity in West Bengal. At a time when all other states in India are refusing to allow non-related donation to curb organ trade in accordance with the rules laid down by the Transplantation of the Human Organ Act, the practice is flourishing in Bengal. An unsuspecting Srikanta divulges some tricks of his trade to the person posing as a “buyer” acting on behalf of a sick relative. “I advertise in newspapers for donors,” he says. “I get countless applications and I can pick and choose. I came to know Meghna through an ad as well. Her blood group matches your patient’s. We’ll get the tests done.” He is referring to HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) testing that is required for a kidney transplant match between recipients and donors. Srikanta rattles off the names of top private hospitals in Calcutta where he can facilitate non-related live kidney donation. He can also recommend doctors. And he seems to be fully conversant with all the medical steps leading to a successful kidney transplant. He is also a Mr Fix-it. The “buyer” informs him that the patient, who is based in Mumbai, wants to get the transplant done in Calcutta as the authorities in Maharashtra have become extremely strict about allowing non-related live kidney transplants. He is also told that the health ministry in Maharashtra has refused to give the patient an NOC or a no-objection certificate (those who want to get a kidney transplant done in a state other than their own have to get NOCs from the health departments in their domiciles). “No problem,” says Srikanta promptly. “We’ll have to establish that the patient is a resident of Calcutta. For an additional fee, I will arrange all the relevant documents — voter ID card, PAN card, ration card or even house deeds. Just bring some photographs!” Srikanta is obviously a tip of the proverbial iceberg. Health activists and even medical practitioners allege that a nexus among touts, hospitals and doctors has led to West Bengal becoming a hub of kidney black marketing. So much so that people from other states and other countries have been flocking to Calcutta to get kidney transplants done here. It’s a thriving kidney bazaar here,” asserts Abhijit Taraphder, a city-based nephrologist, who’s crusading against the practice. “It is being said that Calcutta and Singapore are the two kidney transplant tourism centres in this part of the world.” “It’s an open secret,” admits Dr Rajendra Pandey, professor, department of nephrology, IPGMER at SSKM Hospital in Calcutta. “No other state is allowing non-related transplants.” Though most health experts balk at going on record about the existence of organ trade in Bengal, Calcutta’s reputation as an unrelated kidney transplant and donor centre has travelled far and wide. “It is well known that Calcutta is the hub of unrelated organ donation,” says Sandeep Guleria, senior consultant surgeon (general surgery, GI surgery and transplantation), Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, Delhi, who’s also associated with the Indian Society of Organ Transplantation (ISOT), a body which disseminates information about transplantation and creates public awareness about organ donation. Even international health experts are aware of Bengal’s reputation as the place where you can easily access a kidney donor — for a price. “I know of a woman from New York who went to Calcutta, put an advertisement in the newspaper and bought a kidney with no difficulty at all,” says Dr Francis Delmonico, professor of surgery, Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, and president-elect of The Transplantation Society (TTS), an international non-profit organisation based in Montreal, Canada. Although official statistics regarding the number of unrelated kidney transplants in Bengal are hard to come by, sources reveal that on an average 40-50 live transplants are carried out in the state every month and that 80 per cent of all kidney transplants in the state are non-related. Doctors say that at a time when the number of live transplants is declining in the rest of India, Bengal is witnessing a surge, especially in non-related ones. Consider the latest figures from the ISOT (covering a few hospitals across the country) registry. Between 2003 and 2008, the number of live kidney transplants in India has gone down from 1,024 to 569. For the same period, the number of cadaver transplants (transplants done with the help of organs from deceased persons) has gone up from 32 in 2003 to 125 in 2008. This data excludes figures from West Bengal because, apparently, hospitals in the state do not participate in the registry. Health activists say that this is because they have to divulge the names of unrelated donors and the number of unrelated kidney transplants they do. Experts say that in a state like Tamil Nadu, the rise in kidney transplants from cadaveric donors has stamped out organ trade. Dr N. Gopalakrishnan, head of nephrology, Madras Medical College, says, “In the past Tamil Nadu had the dubious distinction of being a hub of illegal kidney donor trade in India. The government curtailed it in 2008 when it removed the bottlenecks in the Cadaver Transplant Programme (CTP). Kidney transplants in Tamil Nadu now largely take place through living related donors.” Adds J. Amalorpavanathan, head of the CTP, “Between October 2008 and October 2011, 399 kidneys have been donated by cadavers. Yearly, cadaveric donations account for about 80 kidneys, and we hope to take this number to 150. If we are able to do that, and if 100 kidneys come through close relatives, we will be able to meet the kidney transplant requirement in the state.” As opposed to this, in Bengal the state authorisation committee received around 400 applications for unrelated kidney transplants between January and October 2011. (As per the law, the authorisation committee screens applications only for unrelated organ transplants. Organ donation from family members do not need its approval). Yet, despite the fact that kidney touts like Srikanta are making a healthy living, the committee hardly rejects any application. “During my tenure I haven’t rejected any application from unrelated donors,” says S.K. Bandyopadhyay, director of medical education (DME), government of West Bengal, who heads the authorisation committee. “Unlike other states which reject applications, we are very lenient here,” he admits. Doctors in other parts of India know this all too well. Take Dr D. Chopra, an orthopaedist based in Delhi, who has brought his relative, Ritwika, 27, to Calcutta for a kidney transplant. Several members of Ritwika’s extended family have done their non-related kidney transplants at a private hospital in Calcutta. “We’ve heard the hospital is quite good at facilitating transplantation,” says Dr Chopra. “We have found a donor in Calcutta and put in a word with the hospital to send our papers to the authorisation committee as quickly as possible.” Dr Mohan Seal, transplant surgeon and owner of Remedy Hospital in Calcutta, says he gets two to three patients from Delhi and other places daily. Besides, patients come to him from the US, Canada, Switzerland and even Israel, he claims. In fact, Remedy — a 25-bed hospital near Moulali — is one of the busiest centres of kidney transplant in the city. “I have done 500 transplants since 1988,” informs Dr Seal. Even a Delhi High Court judgment mentions Remedy’s role in kidney transplants. While deciding on a case where a patient was denied an NOC from Delhi’s health department for a transplant in Calcutta, the court noted, “The respondent (the department of health and family welfare) was issuing NOCs; however… the practice has now been discontinued, finding commercial trade in human organs being involved and further finding that residents of Delhi were flocking to Remedy Hospital, Calcutta, for such transplant.” Ultimately, the court did direct Delhi’s department of health and family welfare to issue the NOC to the patient. It’s not just the ease of getting the paperwork processed that draws kidney transplant patients to Calcutta. It’s also because donors are easily available and they come from all over Bengal and even from Bangladesh. “My donor came from a very poor family near the Indo-Bangla border. They are a family of professional kidney donors,” says Partha Pratim Chaudhury (name changed), 46, who underwent a kidney transplantation recently in Calcutta. Chaudhury paid Rs 3 lakh for the kidney, which is supposed to be the “standard rate”. However, the official refrain from all hospitals in Calcutta is that there are checks and balances to ascertain the authenticity of donors. “We always encourage live and related donor transplants in all our hospitals,” says Dr Rupali Basu, CEO, Apollo Gleneagles, Calcutta, and CEO, Apollo Group, Eastern Region. “But we do carry out unrelated transplants, and only after all the legal formalities are completed and we get approval from the authorities concerned.” Dr Seal echoes her assertion. “People come to Remedy because of our transplantation facilities. Our donors constitute a combination of related and non-related persons who give their kidneys for emotional reasons. We take extreme care in selecting donors keeping in mind the state of their health and we also confirm their identities and check their papers thoroughly.” But the state authorities say they simply do not have the infrastructure to ensure that financial deals are not taking place in cases of non-related kidney donations. “We have a team of experts who scrutinise papers and grill the donors. But we don’t have the machinery to check whether financial transactions are occurring on the sly,” says DME, S.K. Bandyopadhyay. Some doctors actually feel that kidney sale cannot be condemned outright and that it has a “social angle”. “A father has donated a kidney to marry off his daughter,” says Dr Seal. “In our country, we have no social security to help the poor. So first develop infrastructure for the poor and then blame doctors.” Meghna, kidney tout Srikanta’s find, also does not believe she is doing anything wrong by selling one of her kidneys, illegal though it may be. “It’s better than prostitution, right,” she asks. These arguments are specious, counters Dr Guleria of ISOT, “There is no excuse for breaking the law. Any kind of money exchange in organ transplantation is condemned by us and global organisations like WHO,” he says. “Calcutta has brilliant expertise, but that shouldn’t be used to fuel organ trade,” adds Dr Sunil Shroff, managing trustee, MOHAN Foundation, Chennai, which works to implement cadaver donation in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Indeed, the fact that West Bengal lacks any kind of cadaver organ programme is one of the main reasons for the continued practice of non-related organ donation in the state. “It’s high time Bengal wakes up to the possibilities of deceased donation programmes that can stop unrelated transplant altogether,” says Dr Shroff, citing the progress that states like Tamil Nadu have made in this regard. Until that happens kidney touts like Srikanta will have a field day.

Additional reporting by Kavitha Shanmugam in Chennai

Medical personnel must liaise closely with the police department regarding organ transplantation as they could provide immense help, said [...]]]> From http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/article2402456.ece

Meenakshi Mission Hospital holds organ donation awareness programme

pledge: K. Magudapathy, Assistant Commissioner of Police (traffic), addressing an awareness programme at Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre in Madurai on Friday. Photo: G.Moorthy

Medical personnel must liaise closely with the police department regarding organ transplantation as they could provide immense help, said J. Amalorpavanathan, Transplant Coordinator, Cadaver Transplant Programme, Government of Tamil Nadu.

Apart from several ethical dilemmas in organ transplantation, logistical problems also affected transplantation.

He was addressing an organ donation awareness programme (deceased donor transplantation – kidneys, heart, liver and eyes) organised here on Friday by Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre (MMHRC).

Highlighting the significance of police help, he recalled how the police department blocked traffic at Chennai’s busy Anna Salai on a New Year’s Eve to facilitate the quick transport of a heart, flown down from Madurai, from the Chennai Airport to Mogappair.

The dilemmas of allotting this scarce resource included whether the beneficiaries should be chosen on basis of who was the sickest or treating every one equally or whether simplicity should be hallmark. The Tamil Nadu model had been evolved by studying and customising the U.S.A., U.K. and Mumbai models. It was a dynamic model with constant evolution. Discussing the regulatory framework in India and organ allocation principles and practices, he said that if a patient died, even in a private hospital, his organs belonged to the society. The hospital must contribute at least one pair of organs to the State pool before utilising the rest.

The main issues involved accurately identifying if the patient was brain dead, obtaining the family’s consent, ensuring the donated organs got transparently distributed and following all the laws of the land.

In India, organ transplantation was governed by the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994 along with its subsequent rules, Government Orders and guidelines of Advisory Committees or Coordinating Agencies. The Act was reviewed in 2004 following a Delhi High Court order. Subsequently, a Parliamentary Standing Committee had submitted a bill in August 2010, which was passed by Lok Sabha this August and was pending in the Rajya Sabha.

Addressing the gathering of medical professionals, Dr. Amalorpavanathan urged them to strike a balance between profit motives of private healthcare and the patient centric allocation. He asked them to prioritise medical ethics and involve the civil society as a stake holder.

Speaking earlier, K. Magudapathy, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Madurai City, said that doctors were among the most respected in this society in which most people look at doctors as emissaries of the gods. He also pledged to donate his organs or his families should such a situation be possible.

K. Sampath Kumar, Head of the Department and Senior Consultant Nephrologist, MMHRC, said that the programme was intended to create awareness in southern districts about organ transplantation, which hitherto had been carried out mainly in Chennai and Vellore.

K. Selvamuthukumaran, Senior Consultant Nephrologist, MMHRC, Dinakaran, head of Madurai Kidney Centre, spoke.

CHENNAI: When the parents of 18-year-old Rambabu agreed to donate his organs after he was declared brain dead, they hesitantly asked the transplant co-ordinator if the hospital could arrange to take a picture of him. They said they had none.

Rambabu, a daily wage earner from Bihar, had come to Chennai only 10 [...]]]> From http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/28/stories/2011042862830600.htm

CHENNAI: When the parents of 18-year-old Rambabu agreed to donate his organs after he was declared brain dead, they hesitantly asked the transplant co-ordinator if the hospital could arrange to take a picture of him. They said they had none.

Rambabu, a daily wage earner from Bihar, had come to Chennai only 10 days ago to join his uncle at a construction site near Chromepet. While working there, he is said to have fallen from the second floor and injured himself.

He was rushed to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital here on Sunday, but doctors could do very little for him.

Mandatory second test

The mandatory second test to confirm brain death was done the next day, and experts certified that Rambabu was indeed brain dead.

His parents, father Shankar Pandit, and mother, who are also daily wage labourers back in Bihar, had been informed that their son was in hospital and they were on their way to Chennai.

They reached the city in the afternoon of Tuesday.

Grief counsellors and transplant co-ordinators from Mohan Foundation spoke to the parents then, explaining that their son’s organs could be used to help other people.

Corneas left as per request

The couple, who have four daughters and one other son, consented, only specifying that the corneas should not be removed.

In accordance, two kidneys, the liver and heart valves were harvested on Wednesday.

One kidney went to the GH itself, while the other, and the liver, went to Stanley Government Hospital, where they were used on other patients.

No takers for heart

There were no takers for the heart, even though enquiries were made even in Karnataka.

The heart valves were then harvested for use at Dr. Cherian’s Frontier Lifeline Hospital.