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Indian Express
3 days ago
- Indian Express
Dr Ajay Taware, accused in Pune Porsche car crash case, held in Ruby Hall Clinic kidney transplant ‘malpractice' case
Dr Ajay Taware, former head of forensic medicine department at the government-run Sassoon General Hospital and an accused in the Pune Porsche car crash case, was been arrested by the Pune city police on Thursday in connection with the alleged malpractices in a kidney transplant conducted at Ruby Hall Clinic in 2022. Taware, currently lodged in Yerwada Central jail for his alleged role in tampering with blood samples of the minor accused in Porsche crash case, was taken into custody from the jail and would be produced before a court in the afternoon, said a senior police officer. A First Information Report (FIR) in the kidney transplant malpractice case was lodged at the Koregaon Park police station on May 11, 2022, against 15 people, including senior management members and doctors of Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune, for alleged malpractices in a kidney transplant in which a woman was allegedly presented as the organ receiver's wife after being promised Rs 15 lakh in return. The FIR was filed based on a complaint by Dr Sanjog Kadam, Deputy Director of Medical Services, Pune. The police said the case pertains to a kidney swap procedure, also known as paired kidney exchange, between the man from Moshi (in Pimpri Chinchwad) and the woman from Kolhapur posing as his wife, and a mother-daughter duo from Baramati. The police said the mother from Baramati gave her kidney to the Moshi resident, while her daughter was given the kidney of the Kolhapur woman. Kidney swapping is allowed after fulfilling all legal norms, but any financial transaction for doing so is illegal, said a police officer. The police said the transplant took place on March 24, 2022, after medical tests, documentation, verification interviews, scrutiny and final authorisation. But, on March 29, the Kolhapur woman alleged that she was promised Rs 15 lakh by the middlemen for donating her kidney at Ruby Hall Clinic. When she did not get the money that had been allegedly promised to her, she approached the Koregaon Park police station. The Ruby Hall Clinic administration also filed a complaint accusing the woman of concealing her identity. The Pune police authorities had referred the matter to the state health department after a preliminary inquiry. The health department submitted its inquiry report to the court in Pune. Based on the directions issued by the court, the case was registered at Koregaon Park police station under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, along with Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy. The FIR stated that the Moshi resident, his wife, the woman from Kolhapur, along with two middlemen, presented forged documents to the hospital. It also held Ruby Hall authorities and doctors responsible claiming that they did not thoroughly scrutinise the documents and sent them to the Regional Authorisation Committee at Sassoon General Hospital. The police said that Dr Taware was a member of this committee and allegedly played a role in the kidney transplant malpractice, and hence the doctor has been named an accused now. Earlier, the police had arrested two middlemen Ravi Rodge and Abhijit Gathne in this case. Ruby Hall Clinic's managing trustee Dr Purvez K Grant had told the Express, 'Ruby Hall has done nothing wrong. We are being unnecessarily harassed.' In April, the Maharashtra Medical Council suspended the medical licence of Dr Ajay Taware, for 'gross misconduct and breach of medical ethics', following his alleged involvement in Pune Porsche crash case. Dr Taware's role in the 2024 Porsche car crash Dr Taware has been charge-sheeted in the Porsche car crash case for allegedly playing a role in swapping the blood samples of the minor driver and others at the Sasoon hospital. Two IT engineers Aneesh Awadhiya and his friend Ashwini Koshta, both aged 24 and hailing from Madhya Pradesh, were killed after the speeding Porsche driven by a 17-year-old boy allegedly in an inebriated state hit their motorcycle around 2.30 am on May 19, 2024. An FIR was lodged on the same day against the minor car driver at the Yerwada police station. The police investigation revealed that when the minor driver, son of a prominent realtor, was taken to the government-run Sassoon Hospital after the accident for a medical examination, his blood sample was allegedly replaced with his mother's. The police then arrested minor's parents, Dr Taware, Dr Shrihari Halnor, the casualty medical officer at the time, Atul Ghatkamble, a morgue staff, and 'middlemen' Ashpak Makandar and Amar Gaikwad, for their alleged role in swapping blood samples. During further investigation, a DNA report on August 9, 2024, confirmed that blood samples of the two friends of the minor driver were also swapped at the hospital. Both friends, who too are minors, were in the Porsche at the time of the accident. Police then arrested the fathers of both friends and another person in this case. Last month, the Maharashtra Medical Council had suspended the medical license of Dr Taware and Dr Halnor.
Indian Express
4 days ago
- Health
- Indian Express
Actor Dipika Kakar reveals she has stage 2 liver cancer: What are risk factors for young women?
Popular TV actor Dipika Kakar has revealed she is battling stage 2 liver cancer via an emotional post on instagram. She and her actor husband, Shoaib Ibrahim, have been documenting the diagnosis ever since she suffered intense stomach pain and doctors discovered a tumour 'the size of a tennis ball' in her liver, which was later confirmed to be cancerous. Stage 2 liver cancer manifests as either a single tumour larger than 2 cm that has invaded blood vessels or multiple tumors of less than 5 cm. The cancer hasn't spread to lymph nodes or other parts of the body at this stage. How serious is stage 2 liver cancer? 'In stage 2, the cancer hasn't spread to lymph nodes or hasn't multiplied to distant parts of the body. There are high chances of cure with surgery,' says Dr Sachin Trivedi, Director of Medical Oncology, HCG Cancer Centre, Mumbai. He also says that post-surgery protocols are very important to contain future relapse or spread. 'Post-surgery, you need to do genomic testing of surgically removed cancer tissue to examine the DNA, which can provide insights into the cancer's behaviour, response to treatment, and potential recurrence risk. Accordingly a doctor can decide on a multimodal approach treatment, including targetted therapies, immunotherapy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Newer blood tests tell us if the cancer can spread to the bloodstream so that we can nip it in the bud,' he says. What are triggers of liver tumours/cancers in young women? Dr Minish Jain, Director of Medical Oncology, Ruby Hall, Pune, says that liver tumours in young women are being seen more often today than in the past. One major reason is the rising number of young people, especially women, developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). 'This is often linked to obesity, poor diet, and a sedentary lifestyle. Since the liver regenerates and continues its normal functioning unless a complication is so big as to impair its functioning, NAFLD is undetected till it progresses to a more serious scarring and damage of liver tissue. This can lead to cancer,' he says. Another reason tumours are often found at a more advanced stage is because liver-related symptoms—such as fatigue, stomach discomfort, or weight changes—are easy to overlook or misdiagnose in younger women. Hormonal factors have also been associated with liver cancer. 'Long-term use of birth control pills has been linked to benign liver tumours called hepatic adenomas, which can sometimes grow large or even turn cancerous. Autoimmune liver diseases like autoimmune hepatitis, which are more common in women, can cause ongoing liver inflammation and damage over time, increasing the risk of cancer. In some cases, young women may have been infected with hepatitis B or C earlier in life without knowing it. These viruses can stay in the body for years, slowly damaging the liver and leading to cancer in adulthood,' says Dr Jain. Environmental factors, like eating food contaminated with aflatoxins (toxins from fungi), and the use of certain herbal supplements, may also damage the liver. What about prevention? Such cases show that each of us needs to assess the condition of our liver, find out if it is fatty, and not ignore it at all. 'If you have known risk factors like family history, diabetes and obesity, have had hepatitis B and C, are a smoker or drinker, then do a liver function test, an ultrasound and fibroscan, every six to 12 months, depending on whether your readings are in range or not,' advises Dr Trivedi.
