Doctors boycott dialysis in protest

NEW DELHI, June 3: Over 200 patients suffering from kidney failure had to go without dialysis today as nephrologists in the Capital boycotte...

NEW DELHI, June 3: Over 200 patients suffering from kidney failure had to go without dialysis today as nephrologists in the Capital boycotted the life-saving procedure to express their 8220;solidarity8221; with fellow professionals accused of running a kidney racket at the Noida Medical Centre NMC.

At most of the 27 hemodialysis centres, no routine procedure was conducted. As a result, the patients who were scheduled to undergo the procedure today had to face serious hardships. The emergency cases were, however, exempted from the agitation.

Hospitals like Ganga Ram, Batra, Apollo, AIIMS, Holy Family, Mool Chand and Tirath Ram Shah are some of the centres where the facilities for hemodialysis are available. Of these, the first four centres handle a majority of the cases.

At Ganga Ram, the dialysis centre with 12 units where work goes on in three shifts daily wore a completely deserted look this afternoon. A patient, Vijay, suffering from liver and kidney failure, pipes and needles stuck to various parts of his frail body, was the lone patient in the sprawling ward. Usually, 35 patients undergo the treatment here everyday. At Apollo hospital, similarly, only two procedures were conducted against the normal 25, though all the three units at the Tirath Ram Shah hospital functioned normally.

Patients with kidney failure need to undergo dialysis twice a week till the time they undergo a transplant. The delay of even a day can threaten the very survival of the patients as the body stops the spontaneous process of flushing out toxins. As a result, toxic matters start accumulating in the blood, threatening the patients8217; survival.

The nephrologists are protesting against the denial of bail to those accused in the NMC racket saying the medical experts had been branded guilty even before a single allegation against them was proved.

In a statement issued here today, Dr D.S. Rana, secretary of the Delhi Nephrologists Society, said they while the boycotting of dialysis was only a token strike for today, they will not conduct any kidney transplant till the time the UP government adopted the Human Organ Transplantation Act HOTAWhen asked why the innocent patients were being dragged into the controversy and made to suffer for no fault of their own, Dr Rana claimed said they had reached the decision to strike8217; work for a day only after rescheduling the dialysis of those who were supposed to undergo the procedure today.

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8220;We tried our best. While some of them were given a dialysis last night, others who could wait will be given it tomorrow,8221; he claimed.