Pune woman donates liver to husband, both die after surgery; health dept issues notice to hospital

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A 42-year-old woman from Pune, who donated part of her liver to save her husband’s life, died just days after he too passed away following the transplant surgery.

The double loss has led the Maharashtra health department to issue a notice to Sahyadri Hospitals and suspend its living liver transplant programme for the time being, The Indian Express reported.

The woman, Kamini Koamkar, a resident of Hadapsar, donated part of her liver to her husband Bapu Balkrishna Koamkar, 49, on August 15.

However, Bapu did not survive the surgery. While Kamini initially recovered well after the procedure, her condition suddenly deteriorated.

She suffered from hypotensive shock and multi-organ failure, and despite advanced treatment, she could not be saved.

Their family members have alleged medical negligence and demanded an inquiry into the deaths. Meanwhile, the hospital stated the surgeries were conducted as per the standard medical protocols.

"The surgeries were carried out following standard medical protocols. Unfortunately, the recipient developed cardiogenic shock after the transplant and could not be revived despite all efforts," it said.

The incident came under review on Tuesday during a meeting of the state advisory committee under the Human Organ Transplantation Act (HOTA) 1994, chaired by Dr Nitin Ambadekar, Director of Health Services, Maharashtra. The panel decided to temporarily stop living liver transplants at Sahyadri Hospitals until an inquiry is completed.

Dr Bhagwan Pawar, Deputy Director of Health, Pune division, who is also the Divisional Appropriate Authority of HOTA, informed that Sahyadri Hospitals was asked to stop living liver transplant procedures for a month. “The health department will appoint a high-level inquiry committee soon and they are expected to submit a report within four weeks,” Dr Pawar was quoted by The Indian Express as saying.

As per the report, Sahyadri Hospitals has already submitted the complete set of medical records related to the transplant for review.

In a statement, Sahyadri Hospitals confirmed receiving the notice and assured full cooperation with the authorities. “As a gesture of our complete support for a thorough and uninterrupted review, we have agreed to temporarily put our living liver transplant programme on hold. All our other hospital operations including other transplant services and surgical procedures will continue as normal. Our dedicated team remains committed to providing compassionate and high-quality care to all our patients,” the statement added.