Contempt plea helps bring PET-CT scan to Madurai

Madurai: Pursuant to the direction given by the Madurai bench of the Madras high court on a contempt plea, the government has expedited steps to install the PET-CT (Positron Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography) scan for free diagnosis and treatment for oncology department cancer patients in Madurai.

The dean of the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) filed a status report before the court on Thursday saying that the PET-CT scan is going to be installed at the Balarengapuram hospital, adjacent to the regional cancer centre, for free diagnosis and treatment for the oncology department cancer patients and sought time to complete the process.

Following it, the bench of justices K K Sasidharan and G R Swaminathan which heard the contempt plea said, “The status report contains the details of the process undertaken by the government for procuring PET-CT scan. Since the government has swift action, we are of the view that reasonable time should be given to conclude the process. Therefore, we adjourn the matter to September 18. We expect that the process would come to an end by then.”

The dean should file a report on September 18.

The GRH is the second largest hospital in the state. It provides treatment to more than 50,000 cancer patients in a year through the departments of surgical oncology, medical oncology and radiation oncology. The number of cancer patients (outpatients) went to 55,275 in 2015 from 29,033 in 2007 and the number of in-patients in 2015 was 55,275 at the GRH.

As there was no PET-CT scan facility which is mandatory for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, heart diseases and neurological diseases, the poor patients were forced to move to private hospitals and to spend up to Rs 27,000.

Seeking PET-CT facility at GRH B Karthee from Andalpuram in Madurai filed a case before the high court bench. The bench passed an order on January 2 directing the health secretary to provide scan facility to the GRH in one month. But, the court order was not complied with. It resulted in the petitioner filing a contempt petition.