High Court relief for kidney patient

Much to the relief of a patient waiting for kidney transplantation, the Kerala High Court has directed the local committee of organ transplantation in Ernakulam to forward the applications submitted by the patient to the district-level authorisation committee for taking a decision on the application.

The court passed the directive on a petition filed by Shidhu T.D. from Thrissur and Antony Godwin Wilson, a donor from Ernakulam. According to Shidhu, he was advised to have transplantation of kidney. Since the kidneys of his close relatives were not suitable for transplantation, Antony had come forward to donate his kidney. Though they had submitted applications along with all documents before the local monitoring committee, they had not been forwarded to the district level authorisation committee. The district level committee has to examine the applications for transplantation of kidney as the donor was not related to the patient, as per provisions of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act and Rules.

The court also directed the district-level authorisation committee to examine the applications along with relevant documents received from the local-level committee after obtaining a report from the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mattancherry, and take a decision on them in accordance with the provisions of the Act and Rules.