Patients are becoming hostages to doctors, medical representatives and brokers of various diagnostic centres, alleged many victims.
It is alleged that a section of doctors prescribe unnecessary drugs, recommend excess diagnostic tests or even suggest unnecessary hospitalization for illegal financial benefits.
Doctors not only get money from drug companies for recommending unnecessary drugs in prescriptions but also get huge commissions from diagnostic centres for prescribing unnecessary tests for diagnosis, it is alleged.
Again there are commissions for brokers who allure patients to the diagnostic centres.
The reason for this is simple, doctors earn significantly more than their counterparts who work in government hospitals. The highest-paid doctors are those who work in private hospitals. Private hospitals charge much higher fees from their patients than government hospitals.
Drug company representatives are seen standing in front of hospitals, clinics and doctors' chambers from morning to night. It is mainly through these representatives that the drug companies offer lucrative benefits to the doctors. Not only the doctors who take commissions, but some people working as doctors’ assistants and brokers also get a commission from the diagnostic centres.
Many doctors did not want to talk publicly about the matter even though they admitted to taking money from such diagnostic centres. A doctor who refused to be named, said, “I sit in my chamber in the evening after working in a government institution. I examine 20-25 patients daily. I don't tell my patients that the test should be done from any particular diagnostic centre. I suggest doing tests from reputed diagnostic centres.”
Most of the private diagnostic centres also charge extra money from patients for different categories of tests whereas the same tests cost far less in
government hospitals if compared.
For instance the maximum cost of a thyroid hormone or TSH test at a public hospital diagnostic centre is 160 taka including cost of reagent 60 takas, auxiliary material 50 taka and manpower and logistics 50 taka. Similarly, a lipid profile test costs Tk 277 and hepatitis diagnosis test costs Tk 190 at any government hospital.
Sadly, depending on the private diagnostic centre, TSH test costs between Tk 600 and 1000 against a fair amount of only Tk 160. at any private diagnostic centre a lipid profile test would cost between Tk 750 and Tk 1,200 and hepatitis test would cost between Tk 450 and Tk 1,200.
Thus, patients have to pay 5 to 10 times more than the actual lab cost for each diagnostic test. An investigation by this correspondent found that different diagnostic centres are charging different rates for the same test done by almost similar reagents.
For instance, a lipid profile test at a city private hospital costs Tk 300, uric acid test costs Tk 100. On the other hand, the price of the Lipid Profile test at another diagnostic centre cost Tk 1,200. In other diagnostic centers lipid profile test cost 750 taka. Similarly, uric acid test is being charged Tk 500 at many other diagnostic centres.
Such business have emerged over the years without proper monitoring of the authorities concerned. It is alleged that many diagnostic centres are operating without renewing their registration and continues to carry out such illegitimate business.