‘Donor’ denies donating kidney to sister

Harshaben, the photograph in the hospital records Harshaben Kevadiya is still upset. Two months ago, her sister, Rasilaben Kathiriya, succumbed to kidney-related complications after getting operated at the Powai-based Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital. According to hospital records accessed by The Asian Age, Harshaben donated her kidney to Rasilaben after mandatory medical tests found her fit for the donation; however, on Friday, she said that she did not donate her organ to Rasilaben and insisted the actual donor is a stranger to her.

The hospital records revealed that the donor, who allegedly used Harshaben’s identity particulars, including her matriculation certificate, was from Gujarat and donated a kidney to Rasilaben in May for the transplant. Less than a month later, in June, Rasilaben died due to alleged kidney complications. When shown hospital records related to the transplant’s donor and the recipient, Harshaben said, “This is not my photograph. But the name in the document is mine while it also has my previous address, from where I moved a year ago.”

“Rasilaben was suffering from renal problems for more than a year. She was receiving treatment at Hiranandani Hospital where she was advised to undergo a transplant,” she said. A document labelled ‘statement by recipient’ shows that nephrologist Mukesh Shete was the doctor treating Rasilaben for the past three years and he had also allegedly advised her to undergo a kidney transplant, which would ‘prolong and improve her quality of life’.

Shete is one of the five Hiranandani doctors who was arrested by the Powai police in its probe into the kidney-transplant scam that was busted at Hiranandani Hospital. Rasilaben’s transplant has been under the scanner since last week.

When Harshaben was asked if she had met any of the doctors implicated in the kidney scam, she initially denied it, but when shown a picture of Shete, she said, “Yes, my husband said the doctor we met was arrested recently for something.”

When asked if she had ever undergone surgery, Harshaben denied it. She said she made two to three visits to a hospital in Charni Road and to Hiranandani Hospital. “My mother was taken to a hospital in Charni Road for blood tests and then to Hiranandani Hospital,” said Harshaben’s son. This was confirmed by Harshalaben herself.

A senior DHS officer revealed that documents related to the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) testing results, which form part of the transplant process, show that the HLA for Harshaben and Rasilaben matched. “But, we suspect that the documents are fake or were forged. We are checking them in detail,” said the officer.

The documents submitted by the Kevadiyas also reflect the loopholes in the hospital’s document verification process in transplant cases. The declaration of the donor before the surgery shows the address for Harshaben Kevadiya as ‘Flat no 104, A Wing, Ashwin Co-op Housing Society in Rashmi Nagar in Virar (west)’.

However, when this reporter visited the building, it was found that Harshaben and her husband Bharatbhai had moved out more than a year ago.