Wrong diagnosis of cancer: Kerala govt seeks report from collector

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the state leigslative assembly session that the chief secretary has sought a report from the district collector on the incident where a woman had to undergo chemotherapy following wrong diagnosis of cancer in Kottayam, on Thursday.

He said doctors have shown undue haste in finalising the treatment .

Terming the incident as most unfortunate,Vijayan said such incidents should not happen in future. The doctor who has done chemotherapy has been suspended already.

“The woman had met me. The government is waiting for the report from the district collector and there would be strict action based on the report. There is an uncertainty regarding her future, so the government would provide all support,” he said.

Health minister K K Shailaja said the government was meeting all expenses of the woman. Strict instruction has been given that no treatment should be carried out based on the test results done in private labs. All tests for cancer detection should be done at the pathology department of government medical colleges and the doctors should follow the test results from these labs only, said the minister.

The incident took place at Kottayam medical college hospital. The woman from Mavelikkara had undergone treatment at the general surgery department of the hospital in February this year for a lump on her breast.

A biopsy was done and the samples were sent for testing to a private lab and also to the lab at the hospital. But the doctors of the oncology department started chemotherapy on her based on the report from the private lab.

However, the government lab report said it was not cancer following which the chemotherapy was stopped.