Contradictory results dog kidney patients
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, October 15 2020: Kidney patients who need dialysis have been pushed into a big trouble by contradictory COVID-19 test results.

Family members of some kidney patients who have been undergoing dialysis regularly at a private hospital since December last year told media that one kidney patient tested positive for COVID-19 at Raj Medicity but a second test done at Babina Diagnostics gave the result as negative.

Such contradictory results create serious trouble to patients who depend on dialysis for their lives.

It also leads to social stigmatisation which is a serious case of mental harassment, they said.

Many kidney patients have been undergoing dialysis before the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic but these days COVID-19 test has been made mandatory for all dialysis patients.

As the COVID-19 situation grew worse, authority of the said private hospital asked all kidney patients requiring dialysis to be hospitalised.

But hospitalisation at the private hospital is a huge financial burden to poor patients, particularly for those families who live hand to mouth.

Yet, they have been struggling hard to save their loved ones.

The hospital authority brought up an agreement or undertaking in July which the patient parties must sign.

The undertaking said that the kidney patients should take full responsibility if they become COVID-19 positive.

This evoked a strong reaction from patient parties and the agreement/undertaking was not signed.

On the next day, the kidney patients were discharged saying they may come to the hospital when they need dialysis.

A number of dialysis patients were found COVID-19 positive on testing at the private hospital and they were told to come next day for dialysis.

Thus the patients including those coming from far off places were compelled to go back and come again, said the patient parties.

One kidney patient who came to the private hospital for dialysis on October 13 was told that the patient was COVID-19 positive, and the hospital authority told the patient party to take the patient to either RIMS or JNIMS for dialysis.

The matter was also reported to the Imphal East CMO by the private hospital.

As the patient party was deeply aggrieved, they got the patient tested again for COVID-19 (RTPCR) at Babina Diagnostics and the result turned out negative, said the patient parties seeking immediate attention of the Government into the matter.

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