UK organs-for-sale doctor banned

LONDON, England -- A British family doctor accused of illegally trafficking in human organs has been banned from practicing.

Dr Bhagat Singh Makkar, 62, bragged about being able to obtain a kidney from a live donor in exchange for a fee to an undercover journalist posing as a patient.

The doctor from London, who denied seven allegations during a three-day hearing, was struck off the medical register for serious professional misconduct.

Professor Peter Richards, the General Medical Council's professional conduct committee chairman, described his actions as "reprehensible."

Richards said Makkar had acted "irresponsibly and unprofessionally" when he told freelance reporter Paul Samrai, posing as Jaspal Singh, that finding a kidney would be "no problem."

Addressing the disgraced doctor, Richards said that he had acted with "reprehensible disregard" for the interests of potential donors.

He said the committee had carefully read testimonies from colleagues of Makkar who vouched for his "honesty and probity" but had decided against a reprimand or suspension in light of the seriousness of his actions.

Professor Richards said he wanted to make it "absolutely clear" to Makkar that a doctor must be trustworthy and operate within the law.

Makkar had arranged to see Samrai, who was working for the UK's Sunday Times newspaper, in March 2001 following an initial telephone call the previous day.

Samrai, who recorded the five-minute telephone call and then the 20-minute consultation a Makkar's practice, told the doctor that he was the son of a man in need of a kidney transplant.

In a transcript of the recording, which was partly in Punjabi and partly in English, Makkar said he could arrange the kidney transplant.

"Yeah, I can get it done," he told the journalist. He added: "No problem. I can fix that for you. Do you want it done here, do you want it done in Germany, or do you want it done in India?"

The GP, who told Samrai that a kidney would cost him three times more in Britain than anywhere else in the world, said payment for the operation should be made to him directly, with the price including his own "administrative costs".

Makkar was also quoted as saying that although finding an Asian donor was difficult, "we'll get one from somewhere or other."

Referring to the cost of donors in south Indian cities, he added: "There are plenty of poor people in these cities."

Makkar had denied serious professional misconduct, participation and/or encouragement of the trade in human organs and breaching Britain's Human Organ Transplant Act of 1989.