The Parliamentary Committee on Health has pitched tent in Uasin Gishu County to unravel the mystery surrounding the alleged organ transplant scandal at a hospital in Eldoret city.
The chairperson of the committee who is also the Seme Legislator Dr. James Nyikal, however urged members of the public to keep calm as the team conducts investigations into the alleged unethical organ transplant practices particularly the kidney at the said hospitals in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County.
The exercise began on Thursday as the committee visited Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), St. Luke Orthopaedic and Trauma Centre, and Oak Tree Hospital in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, as part of an inquiry into alleged malpractice and ethical breaches in kidney transplant services at Mediheal Group of Hospitals.
The probe was triggered by a petition in Parliament alleging organ harvesting and illegal transplants.
Speaking to the press after conducting interviews with the affected parties who are the donors, the police doing investigations, parents and the administration of the Mediheal group of hospitals, Dr. Nyikal affirmed that transplants were actually done in the mentioned hospitals and that is not to say those transplants are illegal or are bought.
“This is work in progress, we haven’t finished here, we may still call them back to parliament or we may come back here to get the work done. But definitely what we can say is that some transplants are going on in the hospitals here. That is not to say those transplants are illegal or are bought. That is the next stage we are going to,” noted Dr Nyikal.
“We know that some transplants are going on, but exactly how they are is the next step that we are going into. So it is work in progress and once it is over, you will get a complete report. We can’t say that as of now, this is our finding,” he added.
He affirmed that no transplant is going on now after they visited St Luke Orthopaedic and Trauma Centre and Oak Tree Hospital and Mediheal Group of Hospitals noting that what they are investigating is actually what happened in the past.
The essence of this is to find out whether these transplants legal, were donations legal, were people properly advised, whether all the requirements followed, were people properly advised, were all the requirements followed?
And so we have a lot of information now. We are going to actually do our analysis and we’ll come to that conclusion,” explained the Health Committee Chairperson.
Dr Nyikal revealed there are ongoing investigations as per the police and that they are comparing the same with the affected donors’ response to determine whether there are discrepancies after they claimed they sought help after realising that their kidneys were removed, but they did not get any assistance from the police.
“So the police have their report. These people have given us what happened. And we are comparing whether there are discrepancies. That is what will constitute part of the report,” he said.
On his part, Nyeri MP Duncan Mathenge acknowledged that of the donors who appeared before them, none of them presented with any medical condition that is not within the parameters of known side effects or outcomes after surgery particularly after kidney surgery.
He noted that they are addressing the three components of legality, medical ethics and professional conduct in the medical field to determine whether the allegations were done within the requirements of the law.
“Something will only be termed illegal if there is a contravention of the written law or regulations, or there is a violation of the written statutes. Secondly, medical ethics, a set of ethical considerations that guide the medical practice globally and also regionally like the East African Protocols. Then lastly, there is the question of professional conduct,” explained the MP.
He said that the exercise is also helping the health committee a lot in the formulation of the Kenya Tissue Transplant Bill, which is before Parliament.
Mathenge emphasised that they have a lot of information from the documents they picked which is going to guide whether there are ethical issues, professional conduct issues, or legal issues.
Mediheal Group of Hospitals through their lawyers led by Peter Oiboo Moritant said they shall continue cooperating with the government and all investigative agencies to provide the information and all the documents that are required to make their investigations fruitful for the betterment of our country.
“Mediheal subjects itself to all scrutiny and investigation by the relevant investigative agencies and we believe that at the end of all those investigations and enquiries, that is when the vindication will be,” noted the lawyer.
By Ekuwam Sylvester and Fredrick Maritim
