Our Correspondent
TINSUKIA: Is the Chief Minister’s Free Diagnostic Services, particularly in respect of CT scan, a boon or a bane for common people of Tinsukia district and Assam in general as it has been reported that more than 80 percent of the patients prefer to undertake Computed Tomography (CT) scan rather than traditional X-ray imaging even as these were unwarranted? Though CT scan has revolutionized diagnosis and treatment, unnecessary exposure to ionizing radiation has increased future public health problems.
In GNB Civil Hospital, Tinsukia on average 80 patients are recommended by the doctors for CT scan daily, of which barring few cases, the majority do not need CT scan diagnosis, according to hospital sources. A source further revealed that while some doctors advise patients as routine procedures, some arrogant patients make doctors recommend a CT scan to avoid public ire. Such craze for CT scans and prolong exposure to ionizing radiation not only can damage DNA, thus significantly increasing the risk of cancer but several crores of rupees, on the other hand, are also drained off from the government coffers to Spandan Diagnostics-a West Bengal based service provider.
A hospital source revealed that in the month of October alone, the hospital had cleared the bill amounting to Rs 43 lakh against nearly 2,440 cases given that the service provider has been charging Rs 1,700 per case which is too exorbitant and 3-4 times more than the charges levied by Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh. It will be an astronomical amount if all government hospitals in Assam where CT scan services have been let out to private providers are taken into consideration.
In Tinsukia, the CT scan machine is operated by a technician without any radiologist. It has not been ascertained whether the technician is competent enough to assess effective radiation doses (in mSv) meant for different target tissues. Compatibly, a single x-ray delivers radiation 0.1 mSv while CT delivers 7 mSv, which is almost 70 times more.
According to Dr. Mridul Gogoi, Superintendent i/c GNB Civil Hospital, though the effects of radiation damage typically take many years, there should be awareness among all categories of patients about manifestations of unwarranted exposure of radiation. Only in specific cases, the patients should be recommended for CT scan, Dr. Gogoi suggested.
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