ailing Vilasrao to get liver transplant .... !

Chennai has become the Medical treatment capital of the Nation and each day, hundreds descend Central Station from NE states of India for treatment at hospitals in Chennai for various ailments including heart, eye, bone and more..  There are some from Middle East and African countries also destined for Chennai for treatment.

Somehow, hospitals advertising and touting patients does seem to augur well… in  tamil FM now a days, on frequently hears about hospitals glorifying the facilities and one such advt. shouts that  Specialist Doctors are available till 7 pm every day !!  - I was under the mistaken impression that in big hospitals, Doctors would attend to the patient anytime the patient gets admitted.  Sometimes, some patient make news because of their popularity and recently city hospital is in news as Vilasrao Deshmukh is undergoing treatment.

Vilasrao Dagadojirao Deshmukh  born in 1945, is currently  Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Earth Sciences. A Maratha strongman leader from Latur, Maharashtra State in India,  Vilasrao Deshmukh is currently a Member of Parliament in Rajya Shabha, India. He has previously held the posts of Minister of Rural Development and Minister of Panchayati Raj, Government of India and Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Government of India He was earlier CM of Maharashtra twice - from 1999 to 2003 and from 2004 to 2008.

He is critically ill with kidney and liver failures and on life support in a Chennai hospital. He was undergoing treatment at Breach Candy hospital in Mumbai for about a week and had to be shifted to Global hospitals, a super-speciality hospital in Chennai due to deterioration in his condition. There are reports now that he is likely to get the liver and kidney from a driver who was killed in a road accident.

Registered as a ‘hyper-ultra emergency’ case with the state cadaver transplant board, the minister will reportedly receive the organs after the blood group of the deceased driver was found to match that of Deshmukh’s and the family of the victim was convinced to allow the harvesting of the organs.  Earlier Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had also attempted to assist the minister by asking the Gujarat health department to check if there was a cadaver transplant that was possible for Deshmukh.  His tweet about this resulted in varied reactions with some even questioning on what would happen to common man with similar ailment.  

Human organ donation is in its nascent stages and yet to develop in a big way in our country.  A country with a population of over 1 billion people, India lags behind in the implementation of a cadaveric donation programme. A cadaveric donation occurs when the family of a patient who has been declared brain dead agrees to donate his or her organs (mainly kidneys and liver).   Many medical professionals feel that the cadaver donation and organ transplant mechanism in India needs to be unshackled immediately from red tape. An Act was passed by the Government in 1994 to streamline various organ donations and transplant activities in the country.  It aimed at regulating  removal, storage, and transplantation of human organs for therapeutic purposes; prevent commercial dealings in organs; and accept brain death and make it possible to use these patients as potential organs donors.

Vilasrao Deshmukh found himself in controversy after he visited the Hotel Taj after 26/11 attack in 2008, with actor son Riteish and filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma.  An affidavit filed in the Bombay high court, on 27 April 2012 alleges that Vilasrao Deshmukh might be owning two flats through proxies in the scam-tainted Adarsh Housing Society in Mumbai though he was not found guilty in the Scam.

Newspaper reports suggest that the 31-year-old school van driver, who was to donate his liver and a kidney to union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, died at 2.45am ahead of the transplant. Doctors at the Government General Hospital (GH), where he was declared brain dead, said he sufferred cardiac arrest.  Although, his family agreed for organ donation at 9 pm on Monday, they family declined donation when by the time the police arrived at the hospital a little after midnight. An ambulance from the Global Hospital was stationed outside the GH's casualty ward.  On saturday, the driver was hit by an ambulance while he was riding his bike on East Coast Road. He was brought to the GH by another ambulance.

For those who still could not familiarize with Deshmukh, the cine fans know - Genelia D'Souza  who acted in Boys, Santosh Subramaniam, Velayudham, Sachein among others.  She is married to actor Riteish Deshmukh , son of Vilasrao Deshmukh

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.