DHS to summon pathologist in kidney case

Two days earlier, The Asian Age had reported about how a woman named Harshaben Kevadiya’s blood test results were used and then switched to get approval for a stranger to donate a kidney for her sister. Now, the Directorate of Health Services (DHS) has taken note of the case and said it would summon the pathologist concerned, to explain his role in it.

As reported by this paper, while Kevadiya’s blood tests were conducted at a different hospital and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matched to facilitate her younger sister Rasilaben Kathiriya’s organ transplant at the Hiranandani hospital, the actual donor was another woman, namely Ruksana, a middle agent’s wife. “The blood test reports submitted to LH Hiranandani were of Harshaben. As she was a sibling of the recipient, the HLA matched, which facilitated the final nod for the transplant surgery,” said a DHS source. He said the HLA in the documents submitted for Harshaben and Rasilaben was 3/6. “Such a match is not possible if the donor is not a family member,” the source said. As the reports had been switched, the DHS suspects the role of someone in the pathology lab of the hospital. The DHS has revealed that it will soon be sending summons to the pathologist. While he had appeared before the panel set up the DHS after the kidney racket was busted in July, sources said his role had not been proven. “We will summon him again and ask him questions about the case,” said the source. The DHS has also found that transplant patients were routinely sent to a South Mumbai hospital and a lab in Gamdevi. “We are still trying to gauge why a multi-speciality hospital would send patients to another hospital for tests,” said the DHS official. He said that when Niranjan Hiranandani, the owner of hospital, appeared before the panel, he was surprised patients from his hospital were sent elsewhere for tests.