Mediheal founder Swarup Mishra rejects organ trafficking report, says no kidney was exported
Dr Swarup Mishra insisted that no Kenyan kidney has ever been exported and that all foreign transplant patients arrived in the country with their donors.
Mediheal Group of Hospitals founder Dr Swarup Mishra has dismissed allegations of organ trafficking and defended the integrity of kidney transplant procedures at the facility.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mishra insisted that no Kenyan kidney has ever been exported and that all foreign transplant patients arrived in the country with their donors.
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Mishra was responding to a damning report by a government-appointed task force, which recommended his prosecution along with three other senior doctors over alleged violations in 476 kidney transplants conducted at Mediheal between 2018 and 2024.
“All foreign transplant patients brought their donors. No Kenyan organ has ever been exported. Not even one,” Mishra said.
“The medical facility is not involved in donor selection, transaction, or any form of influence, pressure, bribing, or commercialisation. We do not even suggest donors to patients.”
He emphasised that all kidney transplants carried out at Mediheal were authorised by the Ministry of Health (MoH) and strictly followed medical and legal guidelines.
“Eligible candidates for renal transplant include patients referred by relatives or friends, and in-house kidney patients from our hospital,” he said.
“A complete workup is performed to confirm if a patient is a true candidate, because some cases might require reversible dialysis.”
Mishra explained that donors are brought in by patients themselves and undergo thorough medical evaluations before transplants are approved.
“Once brought by the patient, donors undergo a comprehensive workup to ensure compatibility,” he said.
“This includes cross-matching, HLA typing, and gene mapping, which are essential to minimise or eliminate post-transplant rejection.”
Mishra said the hospital has had a low rejection rate for transplant surgeries, reporting only 20 failed cases out of 476.
“Of the 20, seven were acute and 13 were chronic. Eight cases were successfully rescued, meaning only 12 transplants were ultimately rejected. We have not lost a single donor. All donors are alive,” he said.
On transplant-related deaths, he clarified that patient mortality for kidney transplants at the facility is 8 out of 476 cases.
“We define transplant-related mortality as death occurring within one month of surgery. Deaths occurring after two, three or ten years are natural and unrelated to the transplant,” he said.
The Ex-Kesses MP, accompanied by his lawyer Katwa Kigen, also criticised the Ministry of Health for failing to officially release its report on transplant operations at Mediheal and accused it of lacking transparency.
“This report is harmful to the integrity of our hospital. The claims are entirely unfounded and not supported by any credible evidence,” he said.
“We have nothing to hide. We remain committed to ethical, safe, and world-class healthcare.”
The hospital also dismissed social media claims that it failed to provide adequate documentation during investigations.
“We submitted all records, including details of all 476 transplants conducted since 2008. The public is being misled to believe otherwise, and this is unfair to the reputation we have built,” Mishra said.
He further revealed that Mediheal had sent a legal notice to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) over a documentary that triggered the probe, terming it defamatory.
“We will cooperate with all relevant authorities. And if any wrongdoing is found, we are ready to face the consequences, but we reject the lies and defamation,” he said.
The Independent Investigative Committee on Tissue and Organ Transplant Services, which conducted a three-month probe, presented a scathing 314-page report to Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale last week.
The findings uncovered multiple alleged irregularities involving 452 donors and 447 recipients, with 417 donor files traced to Mediheal Eldoret alone, accounting for 81 per cent of all donors and 76 per cent of recipients in the report.
The committee raised serious concerns about the documentation practices at Mediheal, noting that 60 donors had been listed without disclosing their nationalities, suggesting deliberate efforts to obscure their origins.
It further indicated that the hospital appeared to operate as a transplant tourism hub, attracting foreign clients who were allegedly charged premium prices for kidney transplants.
Questions were also raised about the authenticity of signatures on several documents, with many bearing the name of an individual identified only as “IY,” believed to be an online freelancer. In some cases, patients were ambiguously described as “mutual friends,” casting further doubt on the credibility of the records.
One of the most troubling findings was that a single surgeon and an anesthesiologist reportedly operated on 24 patients within just 14 days, raising red flags about patient safety and poor documentation.
Additionally, the laboratory that tested Kenyan samples in India was found not to be registered with the Kenya Medical Laboratory Technicians and Technologists Board (KMLTTB).
The committee has recommended immediate criminal investigations and possible prosecution of Mishra, Dr A.S. Murthy (Nephrologist), Dr Sananda Bag (Urologist/Transplant Surgeon) and Dr Vijay Kumar (Anesthesiologist).
It also advised the continued suspension of Mediheal Hospital until investigations are complete and urged an inquiry into the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) for alleged regulatory failures.
Among the proposed reforms are the formation of a National Organ Transplant Authority, a National Transplant Coordination Centre, and stronger regulatory frameworks for hospitals handling transplant-related services.
“They have done a thorough job. They have told me who to punish and the gaps in legislation,” Duale said.
“I want to assure you this report will not gather dust on shelves. It will be implemented. I will take it to Parliament and Cabinet.”
The scandal first came to light months ago when young, impoverished individuals alleged that they were exploited into donating kidneys for about Sh400,000, while Mediheal allegedly charged patients nearly Sh30 million for the same organs, both locally and abroad.
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