New York: Poor people in India, who sold one of their kidneys illegally to earn much needed cash and pay off debts, found themselves worse off both monetarily and medically after the surgery, a study has found.

Some of them were not even paid full promised amount for the sale and in several cases, men forced their wives to sell one kidney, author Madhav Goyal, an internist with Geisinger Health System in State College in Pennsylvania, said in his study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study was conducted in Chennai where US researchers examined 305 sellers who were promised between $ 450 and $ 6,300 but most of them received much less than the maximum and average turns to be only $ 1,500.

However, actual amount paid averaged around $ 1,000 and some got as little as $ 450.

Goyal found widespread evidence of the sale of kidney in India despite a legal ban and could easily locate 305 sellers.

Selling kidney did not result in long-term economic benefits but in effect resulted in declining health which adversely affected the earning capacity, he said.

The study found after six years of surgery, the family incomes fell on an average by one-third and health of 86 per cent of the sellers deteriorated. Moreover, many families failed to pay off the entire debt, which was the main purpose of selling the kidney.

Of the 292 who sold kidney to pay off the debt, 216 were still under debt when the study was conducted.

An overwhelming 79 per cent of sellers told researchers that they would not recommend selling a kidney.

PTI