Nellore: Police has booked cases under IPC Sections 420 (cheating), 384 (extortion) and Section 19 of the Transplantation Human Organs Act, 1994 against Simhapuri Hospitals in Nellore, based on the report of a five-member team on Tuesday into allegations that it had insisted that the wife of a brain-dead man donate his organs in lieu of the treatment cost of Rs 1.27 lakh recently.
Nellore collector R. Muthyala Raju had formed the team to probe into allegations against the hospital.
According to the collector, it was mentioned in an official note pertaining to the condition of the organs before extracting them that the kidneys are fit for transplantation.
Usually, doctors mention the condition but not its fitness for transplantation.
Moreover, the recipient of one of the kidneys is already in the same hospital. The coincidence raised doubts over the intention of the hospital.
The probe team also felt that the charges for one’s day treatment were inflated, going by Rs 1,27,000 demanded from the wife of the brain-dead man.
These factors led the collector to recommend to police to register a complaint against the management of the hospital. The collector said that he had received the report from the five-member committee and forwarded it to the chief secretary and principal secretary, health for further action. He said that he had also sent a copy of the report to the Superintendent of Police, Nellore to book cases and investigate further.
It may be recalled that the deceased Yekollu Srinivasulu belonged to Vuddepugunta village in Allur mandal of SPSR Nellore district.
He was critically injured in a road accident near Beeramgunta village on April 17.
The persons responsible for the mishap admitted him at Simhapuri Hospitals in Nellore.
His wife Aruna expressed her inability to pay the treatment charges of Rs 1.27 lakh. The hospital management allegedly suggested to her to donate his organs in lieu of the bill amount.
The woman raised a hue and cry over the issue after going home the next day.
The collector ordered a probe into her allegations after her version was published in some media.
The team consisting of the sub collector of Kavali, district medical and health officer, district coordinator of hospital services, principal of ACSR government medical college and superintendent of government general hospital, submitted the report to the collector two days ago.
