The founder of Mediheal Group of Hospitals, Swarup Mishra, is facing possible criminal charges following the release of a damning government report linking his hospital to an alleged international organ trafficking ring.
The Independent Investigative Committee on Tissue and Organ Transplant Services, in a 314-page report handed to Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale on Tuesday, has recommended immediate prosecution of Mishra and several Mediheal doctors, citing gross violations of transplant laws and ethical practices.
The committee found that Mediheal Eldoret accounted for over 80% of all kidney transplants examined during a three-month probe.
Of the 452 donor cases reviewed nationally, 417 were linked to the facility. Investigators flagged serious gaps in documentation, unverifiable patient identities, and questionable consent procedures, pointing to an elaborate organ harvesting operation targeting vulnerable populations.
“There are clear gaps in regulation, possible criminality, and ethical misconduct,” said CS Duale. “They have told me who to punish.”
Key personnel named in the report include Dr. A.S. Murthy (nephrologist), Dr. Sananda Bag (surgeon), and Dr. Vijay Kumar (anesthesiologist), all accused of operating in a manner akin to transplant “tourism.” In one case, 24 patients were operated on by a single team in just 14 days.
The report recommends suspending Mediheal’s transplant services, probing the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) for regulatory failure, and establishing a national transplant authority.
Duale promised swift action: “This report will not sit on a shelf. I will table it before Parliament and Cabinet.”
The scandal, which surfaced earlier this year, involves allegations that impoverished Kenyans were paid as little as Ksh.400,000 to donate kidneys organs allegedly sold for tens of millions locally and abroad.
