The
Indian Express: Mumbai: Wednesday, February 28,
2018.
A male patient’s diagnosis of prostate cancer
conducted by a gynaecologist, an application seeking Rs 1 lakh submitted by a “proxy”
unknown to the patient, and a doctor admitting that he was “under pressure to
give an inflated estimate”.
An investigation by The Indian Express, based on
documents accessed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, has found how
healthcare providers in Maharashtra obtained funds from the Chief Minister’s
Relief Fund (CMRF), a popular and well-intentioned scheme to help the poor meet
their medical expenses, by fudging records and inflating costs.
On Monday, The Indian Express reported on how cash
was deposited from the charity fund last June for the treatment of a patient
who had died 21 days ago and dubious certificates were used to claim benefits in other
cases. Reacting to these findings, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis promised
strict action against those fraudulently claiming benefits.
The RTI documents show several instances of
regulatory lapses, including the case of Raghunath Gade, a 58-year-old man from Gadewadi in Beed, who was sanctioned Rs 1 lakh for prostate cancer treatment. But the diagnosis was conducted by Dr
Asha Hodage, a gynaecologist at the Hake Hospital, an infertility and
laparoscopy centre, which provided an estimate of Rs 3 lakh for a surgery, records
show.
According to documents, the application was
certified by the Medical Superintendent of the state-run St George Hospital in
Mumbai, following which the money was deposited in the hospital’s official bank
account. The phone number listed in the application form for Gade turned out to
be wrong.
When contacted, Dr Asha Hake, owner of Hake
Hospital, directed all queries to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and refused
to provide further details.
The RTI records also show that the CMO cleared
payments of Rs 2.63
crore for 294
cases of stem-cell treatment for three years from
November 2014. On September 26, 2017, an official scrutiny committee pointed out that “medical ethics were not
adhered to” in several cases. On November 17, it noted that the Indian
Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had termed the use of stem cells in patients
outside an approved clinical trial as a “malpractice” the CMO later discontinued
the grant of funds under this category.
The records,
moreover, reveal the vast difference between estimates and actual cost of
treatment in many cases for which funds were obtained under the CMRF. When
contacted, senior officials confirmed that while the Centre and state have
issued an exhaustive rate list for medical procedures under government-funded
schemes, it wasn’t considered for approvals under CMRF, which is managed by a
trust.
Consider this
official noting in the case of Pune resident Balu Hirnawale: “Diabetic? But MLA
requested to give some help.” Submitted to the CMO on June 17, 2017, the
application seeking funds to treating a diabetic foot infection at the Deshmukh
Nursing Home in Pune was recommended by Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) MLA Rahul
Kul, show documents.
The
application included a treatment estimate from the nursing home of Rs 2 lakh,
which was endorsed by the Medical Superintendent of state-run Sassoon Hospital.
When
contacted, Dr Manisha Deshmukh, who owns the nursing home, said the final bill
had come up to only Rs 39,000, and that the CMO had sanctioned Rs 40,000 under
CMRF. “At one point, we felt his leg would have to be amputated. But his wound
healed after multiple procedures,” said Deshmukh.
‘Under
pressure to inflate estimates’
In another
case, responding to the findings of this investigation, a doctor confirmed on
record that he was “under pressure” to inflate cost estimates.
Records show
that Aashirwad Hospital in Badlapur submitted an estimate of Rs 1.1 lakh under
the scheme for an implant removal procedure to be conducted on a patient
identified as Suryakant Mhaskar. The application was accepted by the CMO, which
deposited Rs 50,000 in the hospital’s account, records show.
When
contacted, Dr Vilas Dongre of Aashirwad Hospital confirmed that the final bill
was for Rs 36,000. “I was under some pressure to give an inflated estimate,” he
claimed, adding that the remaining Rs 14,000 was handed over to the patient.
When it was
pointed out that unutilised funds under CMRF had to be returned to the CMO
under rules, Dongre said, “I wasn’t aware of the norm.”
When
contacted, the patient, Mhaskar, claimed: “I used the money to procure
medicines.”
Highlighting
the lack of adequate safeguards, records show that Mhaskar’s application was
filled up by Walter Rodriquez, a resident of Kurla in Mumbai, who admitted that
he did not know the patient. “A friend in Mantralaya asked me to sign on the
application, which I did,” said Rodriquez, who claimed to be a social worker.
On June 26,
2017, the CMO received an application from Satara resident Tukaram Solavande,
with an estimate of Rs 3.5 lakh from Vitthal Hospital in Pune for a craniotomy.
On June 22, Bhanudas Madane, also from Satara, submitted an estimate from the
hospital of Rs 3.8 lakh for a similar procedure.
When
contacted, Dr Yuvraj Ghatule, partner, Vitthal hospital, confirmed that the
actual cost was only Rs 1.46 lakh in the first case, and Rs 1.65 lakh in the
second. The CMO finally sanctioned Rs 1 lakh each in both cases.
However,
records also show that in both cases, the hospital’s estimate was submitted on
undated letterheads with the same phone number provided for both patients — the
number turned out to be incorrect.
“There is
often a lot of pressure from the patient’s relatives to quote higher estimates.
On humanitarian grounds, we sometimes agree to hike estimates by Rs 20,000-Rs
30,000,” said Ghatule.
The cases of
inflated costs include that of Sanjay Jadhav, a professional wrestler from
Kolhapur who injured his left knee during a match in January 2016. He
approached Sportsmed Mumbai Pvt Ltd (SMPL) for a knee reconstruction surgery,
which provided an estimate of Rs 3-3.2 lakh in the CMRF application.
When
contacted, Dr Anant Joshi, director, SMPL, confirmed that the procedure had
cost Rs 1.01 lakh. “The doctor who treated him is not associated with us
anymore. In a multiligamentous injury, it sometimes becomes difficult to
estimate the right cost… but normally the deviation isn’t as high as 200 per
cent,” said Joshi.
Speaking to
The Indian Express, Praveen Pardeshi, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief
Minister, said that a standard format for submitting treatment estimates and
granting approvals has now been introduced.
The move
followed recommendations by the CMRF scrutiny committee, which was set up by
Fadnavis on September 7, 2017. Between November 1, 2014 and September 30, 2017,
RTI records show that nearly Rs 237 crore was granted from the CMRF for medical
expenses of poor patients in 23,267 cases.
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