For the past one month, thalassemia patients across the country are complaining that the Department of Pre-natal Diagnostic Services at Wadia Hospital has abruptly discontinued diagnostic tests for them. In the past 12 years, as per collaboration between KEM and Wadia Hospital, the prenatal tests used to be done at Wadia Hospital and the test for blood grouping and detecting the RH factor used to be done at Institute of Immunohaematology (IIH), located at KEM Hospital.

The IIH has already received as many as 12 complaints about the sudden stoppage of the services by the Wadia Hospital authorities. One such patient from Sidhpur in Gujarat in a letter dated Feb 26 has blamed the authorities of Wadia Hospital for allegedly calling them to the city to get their tests done but then diverting them to another hospital without giving any logical explanation. According to the patient, apart from the inconvenience caused by the hospital authorities, including traveling from a far destination and being completely new to the city, he also doubted the services of the other hospital as it was an unknown destination to him.

Confirming this, a senior officer from the Department of IIH told Pharmabiz.com, that the office of the IIH had been receiving letters asking for resumption of thalassemia diagnostic services, especially from patients from outside Maharashtra. But the hospital is not in a position to do so because the concerned department at Wadia Hospital has called a halt to the services.

Says the officer, "As per the collaboration for the Prenatal Diagnostic Services that has been carried out for more than 12 years now, once the patient is bought to the hospital the relevant diagnostic tests, i.e. chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and/or cordocentesis has to be done by doctors from Wadia Hospital while further blood grouping and detecting the RH factor has to be done by personnel from the IIH. While the grouping and detecting activity is still being carried out by the IIH, the department at Wadia Hospital have stopped offering the diagnostic services and are directing the patients to carry out the diagnostic services at other hospitals", said the officer on condition of anoymity.

According to the officer, patients from as far as Delhi, Kolkata and Gujarat who come seeking treatment for the incurable disease are left with no choice but to go to hospitals such as Nanvati, Jaslok and other small referral centers that charge exorbitant rates for the various tests. "They come to our hospital with the intention of getting free treatment but are in for a shock when they are redirected to other places who charge them almost ten times the amount", says the officer.

When confronted, Dr. G V Sharma, Medical Superintendent of Wadia Hospital, said that no such discrepancy in the service was observed and that the lab is still conducting the tests as usual. "The hospital continues to see and treat patients for thalassemia on a regular basis as per the requirements and clause set by the government", he ascertained.

But the authorities from IIH are quick to defy that the services have been stalled and the treatment, which was earlier rendered free to the patients according to the collaboration cause, is now being charged. According to the officer, the patients are being charged anywhere from Rs. 50 to Rs. 400 to get their tests done. "For the outside patients who are particularly referred to our hospital for providing free treatment, such an expense can be hardly borne by them. We have been receiving letters asking requesting for a pullback on the charges levied. This is the only noted government centre in the city where thalassemia tests can be detected and treated for free", noted the officer.

As of now, the staff at IIH has made an appeal to the management of Wadia Hospital asking for an explanation for the stoppage of diagnostic services. The other fact that needs to be ascertained is that if at all the services are still being done, as stated by the Medical Superintendent of Wadia Hospital, it needs to be established whether the levy in charges without the consent of the staff at IIH, is justified. "It is only in the interest of the patients that the staff of IIH has made an appeal," noted the officer.