Mumbai, Nov 9 (Dna): A day after dna reported about the State Authorisation Committee of Maharashtra's refusal to give nod for a domino kidney transplant, the city's medical fraternity has said that the law needs to be amended in order to save lives of the patients in the line-up. The committee has refused permission stating that one of the pairs queued up for the procedure is that of a maternal uncle and his niece and as per law they cannot be treated as close relatives.

The doctors now say that the government should amend this law and thereby save three patients who have been on dialysis for a long time. If performed successfully, this would be the country's third domino transplant involving three donors and three recipients.

"The state government should rethink their decision because it's not acceptable. They must amend the law for this procedure. We agree that law is needed to prevent any illegal transplant but it should not be a hurdle in genuine cases. The government should see all the parameters and take a call on it," said Dr Jayesh Lele, president, Indian Medical Association, Maharashtra.

In the past, denial of permission for domino kidney transplant had proved fatal when a recipient from Andhra Pradesh died and as a result of this the entire procedure got stalled affecting four other patients. Dr Umesh Oza, ex-president, Indian Society of Organ Transplantation, said, "The government should look at the broader side in such a case. The law is more or less for preventing illegal transplantation. The government committee, while giving permission, should ensure that there is no malpractice and the donor is willingly giving his organ to the recipient. Such a practice surely benefits families."

In India, kidney transplant is performed as per the Human Organ Transplant Act (Hota), 1994, which was amended in 2014. The law says the donors and recipients should be close relatives in domino kidney transplant.

"The law is to help legal transplants. There should be a right to appeal against the State Authorisation Committee. The authority must involve an IAS officer, a nephrologist and a urologist who have command over this subject. Just because of a small technical issue they should not refuse permission," said Dr Sudhir Naik, president, Association of Medical Consultants. The previous domino transplant consisting of six donors and six recipients was performed on January 25, 2014, in Mumbai.

What's the procedure?

The donor of one pair donates a kidney to the recipient of another pair. The transplant is then carried out in a series till the last donor in the chain donates to the first recipient in the line-up.