Episode Information

India has 80,000 cases of kidney failure every year, most needing immediate transplants. In 1995 the Indian government passed a law prohibiting commercial transplants and organ donations from anyone other than relatives, dangerously reducing the number of possible donors. In the nine years before this law came into effect, surgeon Dr Reddy conducted 1,000 kidney transplants. They dealt with the donors in a different way than was usually the case. They bypassed the brokers, a fair amount was paid directly to the donor and the donor got free medical care for 3 years following the operation. Furthermore donors were selected not only on medical but also on psychological grounds. Due to the enforcement of the new law, Dr Reddy and his team had to stop their work. The kidney trade in India is thriving as never before, though nowadays declared illegal and therefore uncontrollable.