State yet to approve panels, but Sassoon regional committee directs facilities to perform surgeries
State yet to approve panels, but Sassoon regional committee directs facilities to perform surgeries
City hospitals have stopped conducting kidney transplants following confusion over authorisation from the state government since March. According to the new law, the government has to authorise the local and regional committees of the hospitals as per revised norms. Two years have passed since the amendment, but the government is yet to send authorisation letters to the hospital panels.
Even while the hospitals are awaiting the approval letter from the government, the region authorisation panel at Sassoon Hospital, which has only three members as against five made mandatory by the revised law, is giving go-ahead to transplant pleas without any hesitation, caring little about the amendment that made old committees null and void and suggested formation of new panels.
Apparently, the transplant centres are perplexed -- whether they should wait for the government letter or follow the regional committee's orders. Most hospitals are practicing restraint on this issue as they know any conduct surgery sans authorisation letter will be considered illegal.
While the hospitals are awaiting authorisation letters, government officials have been calling various hospitals authorities and coaxing them to go ahead with the transplants. This two-pronged approach has left hospitals completely clueless and every hospital is forced to take individual decisions, which may well backfire. At Ruby Hall Clinic surgeons have decided to wait even after receiving a local committee's authorisation
letter.
According to transplant surgeon Dr Abhay Sadre, hospital received a letter from Sassoon hospital to go ahead with the transplant of a Nigerian national waiting for authorisation for the past three months. "After the law was amended, old committees dissolved and new panels were formed, but they are yet to get approval from the government. Only approved committee can authorise transplants. But in this case, the three-member committee of Sassoon hospital that is old has authorised this transplant. Despite written permission, we have decided to wait and contact state authorities as we don't want any trouble," said Sadre.
He explained that according to the law, in case of blood relatives being the donor the hospital's local committee has right to authorise. But in case of foreign nationals and unrelated donors, regional committee at Sassoon hospital gives permission. "The amended law says that the regional committee should have five members, including a retired judge and a policeman. But the existing panel has none of them. So we are in a fix, should we heed Sassoon's advice and go ahead or inform state government," said Sadre.
Meanwhile at Jehangir hospitals where at least eight patients are awaiting transplants, one patient was operated on Saturday. Vrunda Pusalkar, transplant co-ordinator at Jehangir hospital, confirmed they had operated on a patient."This confusion took place in first week of March when revised rules were notified to all hospitals. But before that we had applied for permission to go ahead with transplants in three cases and we had received approvals. When we contacted state authorities, they gave us verbal assurance that permission was valid as the cases were authorised before the confusion started," she said.
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