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Kidney rackets on a conning spree
The nabbing of online fraudster Syed Haneef of Bellary, who posed as a doctor and duped G Kiran Kumar of Mahbubnagar by promising him good amount of money if he had donated his kidney, is just a one-off case, say patients suffering from renal failure.
Hyderabad: The nabbing of online fraudster Syed Haneef of Bellary, who posed as a doctor and duped G Kiran Kumar of Mahbubnagar by promising him good amount of money if he had donated his kidney, is just a one-off case, say patients suffering from renal failure.
Mahesh Siramandani, who lost his wife on December 12 from End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) says, “I ran from pillar to post for the last three years to find a donor but to no avail. Many agents I came across promised to find donors but all of them were fraudsters.” He further adds, “We registered with Jeevandan in 2013 May and her waiting list was 289. We had no hope as there are few transplants done through Jeevandan scheme.”
According to estimates, everyday almost one patient falls prey to either online fraudsters or agents who promise to bring donors. Laxminarayan (name changed on request) said that an agent approached him and offered to get a donor if he could shell out Rs 4 lakh. He further adds, “I almost fell into his trap but to my luck, in the same week he was nabbed by the police in Anantapur. After that I never entertain agents.”
There are 1,146 persons registered with Jeevandan in Telangana and, on an average, 12 kidney transplants take place every month. Dr G Swarnalatha, in-charge, Jeevandan says, “It is a fact that the number of kidney transplants is less but awareness is growing by the day and in the coming years, the number should increase.”
In the meanwhile, conmen are allegedly duping gullible patients by promising to bring them donors and take huge amounts. In both the Telugu speaking States, there are about 23 thousand ESRD patients, says Dr Gandhe Sridhar, nephrologist and kidney transplant physician.
As the transplantation cost is huge and most patients cannot afford, 95 per cent of them are on dialysis. Even among those who are on dialysis, many who are not under Aarogyasri have to spend anywhere between Rs 1,500 to Rs 6,000 per session depending on the hospital.
Dr Rukma Reddy of Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Trust Dialysis Centre which provides dialysis to patients at four centres in the city for Rs 300 per session says, “Many a times, poor patients, out of anxiety and hope, fall for conmen who fleece them. Kidney racket is thriving in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and there is a need to crack the agents down.”
By T P Venu
