After organ donation, CMO clueless about issuing death certificate

It took one-and-half hours for transplant coordinator in Thane to convince the chief medical officer (CMO) on how to give the death certificate for a person whose organs have been donated.

The incident, which happened on Sunday morning, has raised a serious concern about the organ donation program in Mumbai although it has been a huge success with several people coming forward for the cause and donate organs.

"My brother-in-law Vijay Sawla, 44, was announced brain dead on Saturday evening. We decided to donate his kidneys and liver, eye and skin as we wanted other patients to live a better life. We were shocked that our gesture was reciprocated is such an inhumane fashion by the Thane civil Hospital's CMO who didn't know organ donation program and how to give a death certificate in such cases," said Milind Sankhe, a professional with the aviation industry.
Sawla was admitted in Jupiter hospital on September 16 after he suffered a stroke in the barin. After Sawla's family gave their consent for organ donation, retrieval of organs and transplants were done on Sunday morning.

"After the organ retrieval and police panchanama was done, we reached the Thane civil hospital for a death certificate. We were shocked to know that the CMO wasn't aware of the procedure to give a death certificate. She kept on inquiring about it on the phone. From 11.30pm to 4.30pm, we were trying to convince the doctor along with the transplant coordinator," said Sankhe.

This, despite the fact that on the premises of the hospital was displayed a board about organ donation and how important a role it plays in saving lives.
Sawla's is the 29th cadaver donation in Mumbai this year. According to the procedure, the person issuing the death certificate has to cross verify the organ donation. "She made Sawla's 75-year-old traumatised father wait for hours to get his son's body. There is no respect for a donor family. Organ donation is a good cause but incidents like this is highly demotivating and the concerned authorities should immediately look into the matter," said Sankhe.
The family finally got the death certificate at 4.45pm after which the body was taken for cremation. Authorities from zonal transplant coordination committee were not available for comments.

* Cadaveric organ donors in 2014 so far: 29 donors, resulting in 55 kidney donations and 26 liver donations

* This is the highest number of donations in Mumbai so far, with the previous best of 26 in 2012

* In 2013, Mumbai saw 21 cadaver donations where 36 kidneys and 19 livers were donated

* In 2012, organ donations touched an all-time high of 26 as the issue came centre stage following Vilasrao Deshmukh's death due to liver failure

* Cadaver donations in Mumbai plummeted after touching a record high of 26 in 2012