Apollo Hospitals' operator rejects allegation of illegal kidney transplants

Apollo Hospitals

Indraprastha Medical Corp, which manages two Apollo hospitals in the national capital of Delhi, said on December 5 that allegations regarding its involvement in illegal kidney transplants are false.

The UK-based Telegraph reported on December 2 that Apollo Hospitals Group was enticing young villagers from Myanmar to their Delhi hospital to sell their kidneys to rich patients around the world.

The Telegraph said it first learned of the "cash-for-kidney" racket through a case at the Indraprastha Apollo, which is Apollo Hospitals Group's flagship hospital in Delhi.

Indraprastha Medical operates this hospital as well as the Apollo Hospital in Noida, which is part of the National Capital Region (NCR).

"The allegations made in the recent international media against IMCL are absolutely false, ill-informed and misleading," Indraprastha Medical said in a statement.

Apollo Hospitals Group declined to comment.

The Delhi government is going to start a probe into Apollo Hospitals Group, CNBC-TV 18 reported on December 2, citing sources.

Reuters could not independently verify CNBC's report.

Pritam Pal Singh, the Delhi government's media coordinator, told Reuters he was unaware of any such investigation at the moment, while Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.