Bangladesh Society of Pathologists on Tuesday sought government steps to salvage pathological tests from the grip of 'commission business.'
The society general secretary M Shamiul Islam called it 'unethical' that medical tests are prescribed in exchange of commission from diagnostic centres.
He called it regrettable that the patients in the country, most of whom are poor, have to pay unnecessarily or more for getting the tests done only for the benefit of the labs which pay the commission to the prescribers.
Pathological screening of patients has fallen into the trap of the diagnostic centres who pay commission so that the tests were prescribed, other speakers told the 29th national convention of the society held at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city.
They said that the diagnostic centres pay the commission to the doctors to get more tests done by them. For them it's nothing more than a business proposition, they said.
They called for immediate corrective action from the government to save patients from spending more or unnecessarily for pathological screening prescribed for the benefit of the diagnostic centres.
The society also demanded introduction of uniform charges for pathological tests, ranking of the diagnostic laboratories and checking mushroom growth of diagnostic centres across the country.
Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque, however, refrained from saying what corrective steps could be taken against the widespread practice of prescribing the tests in lieu of commission.
He, however, said the process had been initiated to bring all the pathological laboratories in the country under official registration.
Sadi said less known diagnostic centres pay more to doctors for referring their patients to get pathological tests done by them.
He said that these labs do it to get more patients.
He called for ranking the country's laboratories so that people would know where to go to get the tests done.
He said that different diagnostic centres charge at varying rates for the same tests in the absence of accreditation and uniform rates for the tests.
For urine routine and microscopy examination in short called urine RME, last year, United Hospital charged Tk 205, Popular Diagnostic Centre -- Tk 123, Padma Diagnostic Centre -- Tk 81, Medinova Medical Services -- Tk 120, Dhaka Community Hospital -- Tk 61, Ganashastha Nagar Hospital -- Tk 50 and Aitam Welfare Organisation -- Tk 30.
In the same year, for serum bilirubin test, United Hospital charged Tk 286, Padma Diagnostic Centre -- Tk 204, Medinova Medical Services -- Tk 200, Popular Diagnostic Centre-- Tk 153, Dhaka Community Hospital -- Tk 123, Ganashastha Nagar Hospital -- Tk 150 and Aitam Welfare Organisation -- Tk 80.
Source : New Age
