Organ Procurement Probe Halts Most Transplants in Russia

The number of organ transplants being performed in Russia has slowed to a trickle while prosecutors continue to investigate a group of Moscow doctors suspected of intending to remove a kidney from a patient who was in a coma.

The incident under investigation took place at Hospital No. 20, where a car-crash victim identified only as Orekhov was unconscious after suffering severe head injuries.

Deputy Prosecutor Vladimir Kolesnikov said law enforcement officials were sent to the hospital after receiving a tip that doctors planned to remove Orekhov's kidney while he was still alive. On arrival, they found doctors from Moscow's organ donor center grouped around Orekhov in an operating room.

Orekhov died later that day and was taken to a police morgue. Police raided Moscow's organ donor center on April 12.

Prosecutor General's Office spokeswoman Natalya Veshnyakova said no one has yet been charged. The doctors under investigation face possible charges of plotting a murder, which carries a punishment of up to 20 years in prison.

Meanwhile, Valery Shumakov, director of the Research Institute of Transplantology and Artificial Human Organs, Russia's main transplant center, said the incident has all but paralyzed the process of procuring organs for transplant operations in Russia.

Shumakov's center, which performed 150 of the country's 500 kidney transplants last year, depends on the donor center that was raided by police. Only five transplants have been performed in the past month.

"Doctors do not want to get in trouble and be held responsible for approving an organ donation," Shumakov said. In the meantime, dozens of patients waiting for transplants have been left in limbo.

Other Sources: Moscow Media