Fake NOCs for Organ Transplant: Additional Superintendent of SMS Hospital Suspended

The Additional Superintendent of SMS Hospital in Jaipur, Rajendra Bagri, was suspended from his post on Wednesday for his alleged involvement in the issuance of fake NOCs for organ transplants.

A notice under Rule 16 of the CCA has also been issued to Bagri, former Superintendent of SMS Hospital Achal Sharma, and former principal of SMS Medical College Rajeev Bagrahatta.

Additional Chief Secretary in the Medical and Health Department, Shubhra Singh, said that Bagdi, a senior professor of general surgery at SMH Hospital, has been suspended with immediate effect after the investigation report in the matter showed him as guilty,

The report claimed that Bagdi was fully aware of receiving the NOC applications, and was primarily responsible for the meetings that were not organised.

Similarly, based on the report of the inquiry committee, a notice was issued under Rule 16 of CCA to Rajeev Bagrahatta and Achal Sharma for not organising a meeting to issue NOCs and for supervisory negligence.

Clarification has been sought from them within the next three days.

Both Bagrahatta and Sharma, who were found prima facie guilty for not holding meetings of the State Authorisation Committee to obtain NOC regularly, have already been removed from their posts.

Addressing a press conference earlier on Wednesday, Rajasthan Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar said, “The Medical and Health Department had constituted a high-level investigation committee after the fake NOC matter came to light, which submitted its report on Wednesday.”

“Many important facts have come to our notice during the investigation. Human organ transplants were done at 15 hospitals in the state, including four government and 11 private hospitals. After the case of fake NOC came to light, the government collected the records of all the hospitals for investigation.”

Shubhra Singh said the investigation revealed that about 945 organ transplants were reported in the past one year. Of these, 82 were performed at government hospitals and the remaining 863 at private hospitals.

She added that of these, records of 933 operations are available, including 882 kidney transplants and 51 liver transplants. In as many as 269 cases, the donor and the receiver were not close relatives, she said.