Duale stops kidney transplant services at Mediheal hospital, suspends senior officials

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has ordered the immediate suspension of all kidney transplant services at the Mediheal Group of Hospitals, citing ethical breaches and malpractice at the facility.

The decision comes after a thorough investigation revealed concerning practices in the hospital’s transplant procedures.

“Effective immediately, all transplant services, particularly kidney transplant services, at Mediheal Group of Hospitals are hereby suspended until further notice. This decision follows credible concerns from both the government and citizens regarding the facility’s adherence to ethical standards in transplant procedures,” Duale said in a statement on Thursday.

He further directed that all patients currently seeking transplant-related services at Mediheal be redirected to eight other licensed transplant centres across the country, including Kenyatta National Hospital, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, and Nairobi Hospital, among others.

The suspension follows a detailed investigation carried out by a multidisciplinary team appointed by the Ministry of Health. The team, composed of transplant specialists, ethicists, and officials from the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC), carried out an on-site audit of the hospital between December 5 and 8, 2023.

Their investigation was prompted by a letter from the global Transplantation Society, which raised concerns about an unusual increase in kidney transplants involving Israeli nationals, hinting at a potential organ trafficking syndicate.

The team’s findings revealed that Mediheal, a level 5 private facility, had performed 372 kidney transplants over five years, primarily for patients from Kenya and the East African region, with some from countries like Israel, Australia, Japan, the USA, and the UK.

Despite embracing modern techniques, such as conducting 99 per cent of surgeries laparoscopically and maintaining consent records for donors, the investigators uncovered serious shortcomings.

“There were weak donor-recipient verifications, where the hospital could not provide adequate documentation proving the biological or relational ties between donors and recipients, especially in cross-national pairings,” Duale said.

He also noted that several Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) tests, which distinguish between ‘self’ and ‘non-self’ cells, were conducted in India without prior approval from the Ministry of Health for the shipment of human samples outside the country.

Additional findings highlighted serious concerns, including unaddressed language barriers that led to donors and recipients receiving untranslated documents, undermining informed consent. The investigation also flagged high-risk transplantations involving patients with prostate cancer and poor donor-recipient compatibility.

The audit, while not confirming direct involvement in organ trafficking, found enough grounds for further investigation by law enforcement.

Duale also emphasised the need for a comprehensive overhaul of Kenya’s transplant governance, urging the development of national standards and regulatory frameworks to safeguard against organ trafficking and transplant tourism.

Suspends officials

To further ensure the integrity of the investigation, Duale suspended two senior Ministry of Health officers involved in the probe. Dr. Maurice Wakwabubi, Acting Head of Kenya Blood Transfusion and Transplant Services (KBTTS), and Dr. Everlyne Chege, the technical lead of the Ministry’s multidisciplinary team, were both suspended to eliminate any potential conflict of interest.

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Meanwhile, Dr. Martin Sirengo, Senior Deputy Director of Medical Services, has been appointed to take over KBTTS on an interim basis.

Mediheal Group, however, denied any involvement in an international organ trafficking syndicate. Maryline Limo, the Group’s Vice President in charge of operations, clarified that the hospital does not source or select donors but requires patients to bring their donors.

She also denied the claims made by some donors, including one who alleged that he was promised Sh800,000 for a kidney but received only Sh500,000.

“We want to make it clear that the patients come with their donors to the facility. The hospital is not involved in the sourcing and selection of donors,” Limo said in an interview on Spice FM on April 16.

Limo further denied any knowledge of the illegal transactions suggested in the Deutsche Welle (DW) exposé, in which some donors claimed to have been misled and underpaid. She emphasised that the hospital charges only for medical services rendered, not for organ donations, and vowed to investigate the matter further.

Mediheal has faced scrutiny in the past for similar allegations, including an investigation last year that revealed irregularities in the transplant programme, such as failing to verify donor-recipient relationships and performing high-risk transplants without proper oversight.

Despite these controversies, Limo defended Mediheal’s kidney transplant services, stating that the Ministry of Health has conducted routine checks and cleared the hospital’s procedures in the past.

However, questions remain about why so many foreign patients seek out Mediheal specifically for kidney transplants, with the hospital attributing this to its high success rate.

“We are working very well with the Ministry. They usually come to conduct routine checks on certain procedures, including kidney transplants, and have given a positive verdict,” Limo said.