The Proprietor of Mediheal Hospitals, Swarup Mishra has now insisted that he has been operating within the law even as he dismissed claims of commercialising organ transplant in his facility.

Mishra yesterday said that since Mediheal’s establishment, 476 cases of organ transplant have been conducted at the facility and all patients, including those from other countries, come with their donors because it does not have the capacity to provide for patients.

The former MP’s remarks were backed by his lawyers, Katwa Kigen and Peter Moritet, who accused the National Assembly Committee on Health of bias while investigating the matter.

 “We have not been supplied with the main report and we are responding to media reports but we have written to the CS Health to supply an elaborate report. The committee did not go out of the way to get input of the patients yet they supplied all materials asked for,” said Kigen.

The lawyer also accused the committee investigating of malice for relying on hearsay and innuendo in drafting the report, and dismissed claims that some of the documents required for the probe were missing.

“We dare the committee to say which data was missing because we supplied 476 affidavits times two, which means affidavits for the donors and patients, if the committee did not see it, it is as a result of lethargy,” Kigen said.

“In all affidavits, they had asked for were contact details, not only of the patients, but also of doctors, and even of advocates involved in the making of those affidavits…all those were supplied.” He added.

The lawyer also said Mediheal has scaled down its operation to the extent of 10 per cent of the original capacity and only the Eldoret facility is operational.

At the same time, Mishra said that the number of patients visiting the facility increased through referral, attributing it to patient satisfaction and good clinical results.

“The three types of patients we got were referred by the doctors, and they may be general practitioners, they may be nephrologists, or neurosurgeons. The patient themselves referred other patients, through themselves, relatives, friends and kin as well as the in-house kidney patients from MediHeal hospital itself, who are the candidate to be for the renal transplant,” Mishra explained.

According to Dr Mishra, every patient who visited Mediheal underwent a full medical work-up before any decision on a kidney transplant was made.

“Sometimes it can be reversible dialysis, but after confirmation, through thorough laboratory medicine and imaging and all sorts of relevant diagnostics. When we make the decision on whether there is need for kidney transplant, we ask the patient to bring the donor,” he said.

He emphasized that Mediheal strictly adheres to ethical standards and is never involved in selecting donors or facilitating any transactions involving them.

“As far as Mediheal policy is concerned, Mediheal is never involved in any selection of donor or transaction of donor. Mediheal is never involved, in cash, kind, influence, pressure, or any sort of bribery or force, to make donors commercialize the process,” Mishra insisted.

He stated that all donors involved in the procedures are alive and, to date, the hospital has recorded eight patient deaths out of 476 transplant operations.

Of the 476 patients, he said 10 had to return for dialysis due to issues related to non-compliance with post-transplant medication. These cases were managed successfully, he added, stressing that the cost of the procedures was never inflated.

Dr. Mishra concluded by affirming his willingness to take full responsibility if found culpable, but also called for fairness: “Justice should be served if found innocent,” he said.

Last month, Health Cabinet Secretary,  Aden Duale said he would not take responsibility for criminality involved in drafting the initial report on organ transplant, saying that he has already suspended officers responsible for facilitating a transparent process.

Duale made the remarks in a session with National Assembly Committee on Health as he was expected to present a report on the inquiry into alleged malpractice and ethical breaches in kidney transplant services at Mediheal Group of Hospitals but declared he did not have any at that moment and he had constituted a new team to look into the matter.

A task force that Duale appointed has since recommended the prosecution of Mishra.

The report links Mishra and three transplant specialists at the Level 5 hospital to kidney transplants allegedly conducted in violation of national regulations and ethical standards, pointing to possible criminal activity.