Bhubaneswar: Odisha born doctor Swarup Ranjan Mishra, who is the founder of a group of hospitals and a former MP in Kenya, has been accused of being involved in an organ trafficking racket.
A doctor, entrepreneur, and politician, 60-year-old Dr Mishra was born at Panchapalli village of Erasama block in Jagatsinghpur district. He is the founder and chairman of Mediheal Group of Hospitals in Kenya, where he had started medical practice in 1997. After completing MBBS from MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur and PG in Rajasthan University, he had a brief stint at a private hospital before moving to Kenya in 1997.
As per media reports, there have been allegations of unethical and illegal activities related to kidney transplant procedures at Mediheal Hospital founded by Dr Mishra.
Following the allegations, President William Ruto recently suspended Dr Mishra from his position as chair of the Kenya BioVax Institute, effective immediately.
State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed was quoted by the Nation as saying in a statement that the suspension will remain in force pending the outcome of investigations into the allegations of unethical and illegal activities involving kidney transplant procedures at Mediheal Hospital and Fertility Centre in Eldoret.
This apart, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has ordered the immediate suspension of all kidney transplant services at Mediheal Group of Hospitals following the allegations of malpractice and ethical violations and announced the formation of an Independent Expert Committee to audit Mediheal’s kidney transplant operations over the past five years.
The committee will review governance structures, clinical practices, ethical compliance, and patient safety protocols, and is expected to submit its report within 90 days.
Strongly refuting the allegations, Dr Mishra maintained that his facility has been involved in organ trafficking. Terming the allegations as unfounded, he said he will fight them off through the second public audit.
“We are not involved in any trafficking, we are not involved in any syndicate, and we are not involved in any criminal enterprise related to any issue of kidney transplants. All that Mediheal does is to provide medical services,” Mediheal Hospital lawyer Katwa Kigen was quoted in a news report as saying.
“Out of 476, we have only ten mortalities in 6 years, if we compare with the world standards we are way better. Everything is there, the death certificates, everything,” said Mishra.
The hospital has denied allegations of conducting kidney transplants for patients from Israel and the United States without proper oversight.
According to lawyer Katwa Kigen, who is representing the hospital, all foreign patients had valid medical visas and no illicit financial transactions occurred.
Notably, Kenya’s health ministry had in 2023 commissioned an investigation into Mediheal Hospital and found that donors and recipients were often not related. Some high-risk transplants were conducted, such as on cancer patients or the extremely elderly. Almost all procedures were paid in cash. The report recommended that “the allegation of organ trafficking must be investigated by relevant authorities.” However, the report was never made public, and no action was taken.
