UTK mulls relaxing norms of cadaver organ donation, transplantation

Mangaluru, Feb 13: Minister for Health and Family Welfare U.T. Khader on Saturday said that the government is considering relaxing some norms regarding cadaver organ donation and transplantation to bring in certain amount of flexibility.

There have been demands to prioritise the demand for organ requirement from the immediate kith and kin of the brain-dead person and the same would be considered during the revision of norms, he said.

In an interactive session with presspersons here, Mr. Khader was responding to a query related to an incident in which a kidney of a brain-dead person in Mangaluru was denied to be transplanted to an immediate relative of the donor. The Zonal Coordination Committee of Karnataka for Transplantation (ZCCK) flatly rejected the request by stating that the receiver was not registered for cadaver donation with the committee.

As a result, family members of the brain-dead person refused to donate the organs altogether, thereby depriving many others in need of organs, the Minister was told. Had the committee accepted the plea of family members, not only the relative but also many others, who were in dire need of organs, would have benefited, he was told.

Mr. Khader, in his response, said that if such pleas were accepted without any verification, it could lead to another kind of scam where organs of brain-dead could be sold in the guise of ‘relatives.’

Therefore, there was a need to bring such requirements under the legal framework. The government was working on how to facilitate the same, without compromising on legal requirements, Mr. Khader said.