The family of a 35-year-old kidney transplant patient accused a city hospital of grave medical negligence, claiming that the patient, Tejaswini Sarvade, was transplanted with a kidney incompatible with her blood group a year back.
The family alleged that the deceased needed a B positive kidney but was given an A positive one, which led to her untimely death after a year of suffering.
Tejaswini, who suffered from chronic kidney disease (CKD), underwent a transplant at Jehangir Hospital in November 2023 and succumbed to the complications a year later.
Sharing more details, her brother, Pratap Holikar, alleged that the hospital’s negligence directly caused her demise. “My sister’s blood group was B positive, but she was given an A positive kidney which her body could not accept. Desperate to save her life, we were unaware of the repercussions of such a mismatch. The hospital claimed they used heavy immunosuppressant drugs to counter the incompatibility, but her body failed to tolerate them. Her health kept on deteriorating, and she ultimately succumbed to the serious complications,” said Pratap.
Tejaswini passed away on December 9, 2024, after months of constant health issues. Pratap further alleged that her body rejected the foreign kidney, which resulted in not only her death but also left the family financially drained.
Responding to the allegations made by the family of the deceased, Dr Shriniwas Ambike, a veteran kidney transplant surgeon, who oversaw the procedure and performed the transplant on Tejaswini, denied and dismissed all the allegations claiming the family was aware of the incompatible kidney being transplanted.
“The claim of a mismatched kidney transplant is entirely baseless. We have successfully performed incompatible kidney transplants since 2015, with over 50 cases without any mortality,” Ambike claimed.
Explaining Tejaswini’s case, Amibke said, “Her multiple comorbidities, which she was already suffering from even before being diagnosed with CKD, had worsened her condition. Though she was under our care post-operation, she was not able to tolerate the heavy immunosuppressant drugs which are usually given to help the patient accept the organ.
“However, she failed to do so as she was already suffering from many serious health conditions, which led to the complications. However, as alleged by her family, if her body had rejected the kidney due to incompatibility, it would have happened immediately post-surgery, not a year later.”
Besides this, the family also made another serious allegation against the hospital claiming that the latter withheld Tejaswini’s body until outstanding medical bills were cleared. Pratap claimed, “We spent Rs 52 lakh on her treatment over the past year, and yet the hospital demanded an additional
Rs 12 lakh to clear pending bills before releasing her body. It was heartless. Despite losing a loved one, we were forced to stage a hunger strike to have her body released.”
On this, the hospital denied the family’s claims. A senior official from the hospital said, “The allegations of withholding the body are baseless and untrue. At no point did we deny the family access to the deceased.
“Despite their financial constraints, we continued treatment to provide the best possible care. We were with them throughout their journey of being admitted to being treated and till they were released with dignity. The accusations are baseless and misleading, and demoralising for not only the hospital but its entire staff.
“Such incidents only leave us shattered. Families need to understand that we provide them with care and treatment and such defamations only cause us to lose faith in patients.”