A 2017 message claiming that kidneys of a family of two, who were declared brain dead after an accident, are available to be transplanted with three mobile numbers has reappeared on social media. While two of the three numbers in the message shared with an aim to "spread humanity" are non-existent, there are strict organ donation guidelines which have to be followed for kidney transplantation.
BOOM contacted Dr. Sujata Patwardhan, Urologist, Head of the Maharashtra chapter of the Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO) and State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO) to understand the procedure that needs to be followed for organ donation. "You cannot carry out organ transplantation details over WhatsApp. This is a fake message," Dr. Patwardhan said.
The message that reads "Dear all, Important, 4 Kidneys Available. Due to Death of our friend Mr Sudhir And His Wife (Service Colleagues of my Friend) Who Met With an Accident Yesterday, Doctor Has Declared Them Brain Dead. Mr.Sudhir is B+ and His Wife O+. His Family Wants to Donate Their Kidneys for Humanity .Plz Circulate. Contact 9837285283, 9581544124, 8977775312/ Forward to Another Group, It Could Help Someone...Share it... Could save someones life has been ."
BOOM found the same message dating back to 2017 on Twitter. Since then, it has been shared on Twitter every year.
The post was also shared on Facebook in 2018. BOOM called both the numbers and they were continuously busy on another call.
In 2019, the message reappeared again all across the year. BOOM found posts from August to December 2019.
The message has now reappeared in 2020. Two of the three numbers do not exist or are currently out of use. The first number belonging to a nephrologist Dr. Sandeep Kumar Garg from Meerut was reported as scam by several users on the Truecaller application. BOOM did not hear back from this number even after reaching out to it repeatedly.
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Fact Check
BOOM found that not only is this message in circulation since 2017, but that it is also scientifically inaccurate.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has a special arm called the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) which looks after the availability of organs for donation and their subsequent dissemination on the basis of a priority list. State and regional chapters ensure the smooth functioning of organ donation. Furthermore, there are even city-based zonal transplant coordination committees which inform and communicate patrons about the benefits of organ donation.
BOOM spoke to Dr. Sujata Patwardhan, head of the Maharashtra chapter of ROTTO-SOTTO and urologist at KEM Hospital, Mumbai to understand the intricacies involved with organ donation. "First of all, organs can be received only from patients in registered hospitals. Organs of the patients declared brain-dead go through four rounds of approval to be deemed fit for transplantation. It is not that you send a message over social media and the organ can be immediately transplanted, " Dr. Patwardhan explained.
An official at Mumbai ZTCC also explained the shelf life for each organ. While hearts have to be transplanted in four-six hours after retrieval, livers and kidneys have a longer window. Livers have to be transplanted within eight hours of retrieval while kidneys have to be transplanted within 12-24 hours. Organ retrieval is only possible through registered hospitals.
"If the donor is at a non-registered hospital, they are shifted to a registered one for organ retrieval. If it is difficult to shift the patient, with the Government's approval, the hospital is converted to a temporary centre for retrieval," the official said.
After the organ has been retrieved, it is matched with the appropriate recipients through HLA matching and blood tests. A recipient waiting list is maintained by the ROTTO-SOTTO and the ZTCC teams.
"These nodal organisations allocate the organs as per the requirements on the waiting list. The allocation bodies in each state then follow the necessary guidelines for all the specific organs, " Dr. Patwardhan concluded.