Maharashtra: Court lifts price cap on high-res CT scan for non-Covid patients

MUMBAI: The price capping on high-resolution CT (HRCT) scan will not be applicable for non-Covid patients. Allowing radiology centres to charge more than the amount capped by the state, the Aurangabad bench of Bombay high court said they can charge non-Covid patients Rs 4,000, higher than the price band of Rs 2,000-Rs 3,000 fixed by the state panel. However, the price cap will apply when the scan is done 'for diagnosis of Covid-19' or for a positive patient.

The interim order as an "interim arrangement" passed on November 6 by a bench of Justices S V Gangapurwala and RG Avachat will be in force till December 4 when a petition filed by the Maharashtra State Branch of India Radiological and Imaging Association (MSBIRIA) is heard. The HC directed the association to ask its members to "notify at a conspicuous place" in the hospital the HRCT rates for Covid and non-Covid patients.

The association had challenged the September notification capping rates of HRCT of the chest. The state had justified the blanket capping saying it was difficult to differentiate between Covid and non-Covid patients.

The association said the "HRCT chest test is not a test for diagnosis of Covid-19". It cited literature from Journal of Clinical Imaging Science and the September 4 advisory of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to contend that rapid antigen test and RT-PCR are diagnostic tests for Covid. But the state said the same journal concluded that during the pandemic, patients coming to emergency centres with Covid-19 symptoms must also be screened with a chest CT.

The association cited a recent judgement of the Nagpur bench of high court, which had stayed cost caps for non-Covid patients, to back its plea to set aside the notification. But the state said the capping would apply as the HRCT is "advised for detecting Covid virus infection itself". The HC said the Nagpur bench order holds the field today. If a patient comes to a hospital and requests an HRCT chest test for Covid-19 diagnosis, "then the petitioner (the association and its members) would be bound by the state notification (capping rates)," said the HC, saying it would decide the matter finally in December.

Former IRIA president Dr Jignesh Thakker said they welcomed the interim order, but expressed hope that once the pandemic ended, they would be allowed to return to the pre-pandemic charges. State officials did not wish to comment on the judgement.