2 Tamil Nadu Hospitals Face Licence Suspension Over Kidney Racket Allegations

Chennai: A suspected kidney transplant racket has come to light in Namakkal, where a broker allegedly targeted poor textile workers, lured them into selling their kidneys for money at two private hospitals - Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College Hospital in Perambalur and Cethar Hospitals in Trichy.

The donors were secretly taken to private hospitals, admitted as patients, and kept for a week to undergo the transplant in exchange for amounts ranging from Rs 5 to 10 lakh. After the procedure, they were handed over the money, which helped them to repay their debts. The brokers specifically targeted vulnerable and poor individuals who were in urgent need of money.

Adding to the concern, the authorities are also questioning the quality of the donated kidneys. Investigators suspect that the middlemen supplied poor donors to recipients under the guise of false familial relationships. However, the involvement of the hospitals and transplant surgeons in the racket remains unclear, and an investigation is currently underway.

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In response, the Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services (DMS) has temporarily suspended the kidney transplant licences of Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College and Hospital, Perambalur, and Cethar Hospital, Trichy.

This action follows the formation of a special inquiry team by the Health Department, led by S. Vineeth, Project Director of the Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project. The team was tasked with investigating reports that a broker was persuading desperate individuals to sell their kidneys, as per The Hindu reports.

In a press release issued on Wednesday (July 23, 2025), the Health Department confirmed that S. Vineeth had been directed to conduct the inquiry and submit a report.

Subsequently, Dr. Vineeth, along with R.M. Meenakshi Sundari (Joint Director, DMS, Chennai), A. Rajmohan (Joint Director of Medical and Rural Health Services, Namakkal), K. Marimuthu (Joint Director for Perambalur and Ariyalur), and Seetharaman (Deputy Superintendent of Police), conducted inquiries at the two hospitals and in the affected areas.

Based on Dr. Vineeth’s preliminary report, the DMS ordered the suspension of the kidney transplant licences of both hospitals under Section 16(2) of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, citing public welfare.

Among the several individuals who donated their kidneys for money, one such case involved a mother of two children who claimed that she was paid Rs 6.5 lakh for donating a kidney to repay her family's debts and secure financial stability. She alleged that the procedure took place at Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College Hospital, where she was kept as an inpatient for a week for the transplant, NDTV reports.

The case also raises serious questions about the role and effectiveness of the authorisation or screening committees, which are mandated to rigorously verify the genuineness of the relationship between donors and recipients in cases of "living donor" transplants.

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