Sasikala's husband's liver transplant raises doubts over organ donation process
CHENNAI: M. Natarajan, husband of sacked AIADMK interim general secretary V.K. Sasikala, underwent liver and kidney transplant here on Wednesday even as the hospital that carried out the transplant dismissed allegations that a 19-year-old youth was airlifted to Chennai in a “brain-dead” state to facilitate the procedure.
Natarajan, 74, who has been suffering from liver and kidney related problems for the last nine months, is “recovering well” at the Intensive Care Unit of the Gleneagles Global Health City here after nearly eight-hour long surgery by a team of specialists.
Since the 19-year-old Karthik, who suffered head injuries in an accident on Saturday in Thanjavur, was flown to Chennai from Tiruchy on Tuesday morning, several theories have been doing the rounds. Questions are now being raised about whether the patient was already “brain-dead” when he was transported to the hospital on Tuesday, which could amount to flouting transplantation rules.
Activists also questioned the source of funding for the air lifting of the patient, who is said to belong to a very poor family, from Tiruchy to the Global Hospital.
Though Natarajan was registered with the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (Transtan) for kidney and liver transplant, he was on the wait-list since April.
According to the rules of Transtan, liver, heart, lungs and one kidney will be allocated to the hospital where the organs are harvested.
As allegations flew thick and fast, the hospital took pains to explain that Karthik was brought by his family in critical condition and was “declared brain dead” only at the Global Health City following failure of the treatment by neurological and trauma teams.
The press statement issued by the hospital did not mention Natarajan’s name and chose to refer him to the patient as “74 years old gentleman.”
Noting that Karthik, the donor, suffered head injuries following an accident on September 30 in Thanjavur, the statement said the family decided to move him to the Global Hospital for “second opinion and specialised care” against medical advice.
He was declared “brain-dead” at the Global Hospital and Karthik’s family gave its consent to donate his liver, heart, lungs and kidneys “as they wanted to ensure that his memory lived on and provided a fresh lease of life to patients” who require transplantation.
Sources said the hospital got permission for the surgery from the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (Transtan) headed by P. Balaji, who is at the centre of a raging row for authenticating the then chief minister, J. Jayalalithaa’s thumb impression in B-Form issued to AIADMK candidates while she was undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospitals. A petition challenging his appointment is already before the Madras high court.
“The other kidney was allocated to the common pool as per government regulations. Heart was allocated to 43-year-old from Tamil Nadu, lungs to a 62-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh and liver and kidney were allocated to a “74 years old gentleman who was on top of the combined liver-kidney transplant waiting list,” Global Hospitals statement said.
Sasikala, currently in the Parapana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru, chose to leave her husband Natarajan to live with J. Jayalalithaa in her Poes Garden residence.
Though Natarajan and Sasikala had been living separately since 1990s, he had accompanied her when she surrendered before the prison authorities on February 15 after she was convicted in the DA case and sentenced to four years in prison.
Sasikala has applied for parole to meet Natarajan at the hospital, but it was rejected on “technical grounds.” A fresh application is being moved before jail authorities.
