Organ Transplantation

Recently,  Madras High Court ruled that unless there’s proof of payment, consent from a non-related donor must be accepted by the authorization committee at face value.

Key Highlights of the Judgement

• Burden of Proof Shift: The court  stated that the burden of proof should shift from the donor/recipient to the authorization committee.
• Committee Verification: The  Authorization committee can seek explanations and conduct verifications, but permission shouldn’t be withheld without concrete evidence of financial transactions. 

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• Providing Guidelines: Assertions of donation out of love and affection should be accepted unless credible reasons suggest otherwise. The government should provide clear guidelines on such matters. 
• Priority on Life-Saving Objective: The issue of granting authorisation must be looked into with the avowed object of saving the life of a person and not from a technical point of view. 
• Urgency in Decision Making: Further, since time was the essence in matters of such nature, the authorisation committees should take speedy decisions without sitting over the applications.
• Disapproval of Association Length : The court further disapproved the practice of assessing the duration of the relationship between a donor and recipient as a criterion for authorization. 
• Post Operative Care responsibility: It would be the duty of the organ recipient to bear the expenditure for post-operative care of the donor.
• Insurance for Kidney Donors: The court recommended that beneficiaries should provide general health insurance coverage for kidney donors, following the example set by regulations for surrogacy and assisted reproductive technology.
• Monthly Allowance for Donors: A lump sum deposit shall be directed to be made to the credit of the authorisation committee. 
  • The committee shall issue directions for crediting a fixed sum every month in the bank account of the donor for a period of three years

About Organ Transplantation

• Transplantation: It involves surgically removing an organ, tissue, or group of cells from a donor and transplanting it into the recipient, or relocating it within the same individual.
• Organ Transplantation: It includes kidney, liver, heart, lung, pancreas, and intestine etc.

Eligibility for organ donation in India

• Living Donors: Living donors must be at least 18 years old, have no infectious diseases, active cancer, or severe infection, and are typically restricted to donating to immediate blood relatives. In special cases, donations can also be made out of affection and attachment for the recipient.
  •  Living donors are eligible to donate the following organs:
    • One of their kidneys
    • A portion of the pancreas
    • Part of the liver
• Deceased Donors: They have an opportunity to donate six vital organs: kidneys, liver, heart, lungs, pancreas, and intestine. While uterus transplants are performed, they are not classified as life-saving organs. Consent from the family is required for organ donation from a person declared legally dead.

Legislation Governing Organ Transplantation in India

• Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act (THOTA) It was  enacted in 1994 and amended in 2011, establishes the legal framework for organ transplantation in India. 
  • This law governs multiple facets of organ donation and transplantation, including the recognition of brain death as a form of death and the necessity of family consent for organ donation following brain death.
•  National Organ Transplant Programme: It aims to coordinate the procurement and distribution of organs and tissues for transplantation. 
  • The scheme is currently extended from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
  • It is responsible for establishing and managing a national registry of organ and tissue donation and transplantation.

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