Mediheal moves to court to challenge organ trafficking probe

The Mediheal Group of Hospitals has moved to court seeking direction on the handling of patients and donor information by the independent investigative committee formed by Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale to probe alleged kidney trafficking at the facility.

Mediheal lawyer, Senior Counsel Katwa Kigen, who submitted 470 files of patients seeking kidney transplant services at the health facility and donors between 2020 and 2025, says the concern is that doctor–patient confidentiality could be infringed during the process.

The hospital says a directive of the court will ensure that patients' data is protected even as the committee continues with its probe, which is a matter of national concern.

"We have had to file a case in Eldoret High Court, where the hospital is based, and our desire is that that issue is determined in terms of the handling, access to information, and protecting the patients' confidentiality,” said Kigen.

“And so even in submitting the documents today, we have given out the documents on that understanding—that the committee will be very delicate in how they handle the document until when the case tells us how the documents should be handled to secure the confidentiality of the patients. The case has been filed by Mediheal on behalf of the patients.”

Kigen says Mediheal Group of Hospitals is committed to the probe, which is expected to be carried out in 90 days.

CS Duale last month assured the country that there would be no interference with investigations into allegations of organ trafficking at Mediheal.

Duale, who officially inaugurated a 13-member independent investigative committee to probe the cases, said investigations, which will extend to audits of all transplant facilities in the country, should focus on truth, transparency, and transformative justice.

The three-month assignment is set to transform organ and tissue transplant services in the country.

This came after he suspended two senior Ministry of Health officials for bungling the report prepared by a committee formed in 2023, and which was allegedly doctored.

"There was coercion. They were told that orders were from above. I want to assure you that there will be no orders from above. There will be no orders from this ministry or from the presidency. We want the truth to come out. Don’t listen to sideshows. Don’t listen to lawyers," CS Duale assured the new committee.

The team has been tasked with, among other duties, conducting physical audits of all transplant facilities in the country, reviewing policy, legal, and ethical frameworks governing organ and tissue transplant services and reviewing all documentation, donor-recipient consent forms, and governance systems at Mediheal.

The Group of Hospitals founder, Dr. Swarup Mishra, has, however, denied allegations that his facility has been involved in organ trafficking, adding that the allegations are unfounded and that he will fight them off through the second public audit.