Kottayam: Attempts are likely being made to protect a doctor here who ordered a chemotherapy for a woman who did not have cancer even though it is said the treatment was prescribed based on a private lab’s report.
No action was reportedly taken on a report sent by the Kottayam medical college principal to the Director of Medical Education (DME) two weeks ago. The erring doctor is said to be a relative of a senior CPM leader in the district.
After the issue snowballed into a controversy, Health Minister K K Shylaja again sought a report from the principal on Sunday. The principal who was in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, submitted the old report without conducting another round of inquiry.
Rajani, 38, of Kudassanad near Chengannur in Alappuzha, had filed a complaint against the gross medical negligence to the college principal. Based on which, a team of four doctors had conducted an inquiry and submitted a report, which was then submitted by the principal to the DME. As per the norms, the doctors are not supposed to ask patients to conduct tests at private labs.
However, this violation of norms is not mentioned in the report. Instead it has been justified that tests were done at the private lab to avoid delay.
Rajani had undergone treatment at the general surgery department of the Kottayam Medical College Hospital (MCH) on February 28 for removing a lump on her breast. The biospecimens were taken and sent for testing at the hospital laboratory as well as at Dianova Laboratories, a private lab near the hospital. Chemotherapy was started immediately after the doctors at the oncology department of the hospital received the report from the private lab, which stated she had been diagnosed with cancer.
However, the report from the MCH lab came two weeks later and it said the suspect lump was not cancerous.
Chemotherapy was immediately stopped and the oncology department referred her back to the general Surgery department where the lump on her breast was removed performing a surgery.
The samples tested at the private lab were again tested at the hospital lab as well as a lab at the Thiruvananthapuram Regional Cancer Centre (RCC).The reports from both the labs confirmed that it was not cancerous.
Subsequently, the woman complained to the Health Minister about the the incident and the health issues including serious side-effects she has been facing after the wrong treatment at the hospital.
