The Health Ministry’s National Organ and Tissue Transplantation Organisation (NOTTO) has initiated an inquiry into allegations of cash-for-kidney scam against Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, said sources in the Ministry on Tuesday adding that the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO) will start looking into the matter immediately.
The inquiry has been ordered following reports by UK-based newspaper The Telegraph that alleged that this private hospital group has been involved in a racket where people from Myanmar are being enticed to sell their organs for profit.
The report notes that this multi-billion dollar company with facilities across Asia, boasts that it conducts more than 1,200 transplants a year, with wealthy patients arriving for operations from all over the world, including the UK. It adds that “young villagers from Myanmar are being flown to Apollo’s prestigious Delhi hospital and paid to donate their kidneys to rich Burmese patients”.
