'Gau rakshaks' are victims not tyrants, says VHP

Bengaluru, Jan 16: It was necessary to revise rates under the ECHS, CGHS and GIPSA schemes for private hospitals to be able to sustain, doctors from private hospitals have opined.

Under the banner of the Association of Healthcare Providers of India (AHPI), doctors from top private hospitals in the city spoke about the dues pending from the union government schemes. They said they could not give a deadline as to when they would stop offering the scheme.

In a press release issued here on Thursday association said, which had previously told the government that they would not treat patients under the scheme owing to dues, mellowed down after the government released Rs 250 crore out of the Rs 1,000 crore dues.

Mangaluru, May 23: Criticising the Karnataka government's fresh protocol for management of Covid-19 as expensive, a prominent physician in the city has demanded its withdrawal.

According to Dr B Srinivas Kakkilaya, the protocol released by the Health and Family Welfare Department on May 15 enlists unnecessary and unconfirmed tests and treatments. 

The protocol has classified Covid-19 cases into three categories and has provided for hospitalisation of all three categories of patients, from asymptomatic to the most severely ill.

In a letter to the government, Dr Kakkilaya said: "The protocol suggests several investigations to be done right on the day of admission, including blood counts, liver and renal function tests, chest X Ray, ECG, CT scan of the chest, and other special investigations, all of which, if done, will cost Rs 25,000 per patient."

"In the coming days when lakhs of patients are likely to be infected with SARS CoV2, is it necessary and feasible to hospitalise and test all these patients at Rs 25,000 per person," he questioned.

The treatment options suggested in the protocol are also surprising, he pointed out. "The protocol recommends choloroquine, azithromycin, oseltamivir, zinc and vitamin C for all patients, from asymptomatic to the severely ill, and also anti coagulant injections for many patients. All these would cost at least Rs 5,000 per patient. For severe cases of Covid-19, many unproven and experimental treatments have been suggested, which are very expensive and highly questionable," Dr Kakkilaya notes.

Therefore, this protocol, he asserted was not evidence based and likely to do more harm than good. He said these unnecessarily expensive tests and allowing private companies to conduct trials on Covid-19 patients is likely to be misused by vested interests and must be immediately withdrawn, and instead, a protocol that is evidence-based, simple and avoiding unnecessary expenses, must be developed.

Bengaluru, June 23: A head constable from Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) committed suicide on board a bus after testing positive for COVID-19 in the city.

As per sources, the 50-year-old head constable had tested positive for coronavirus last evening and today he was being taken to a hospital in KSRP bus.

It is learned that he hanged himself to death inside the bus as there was no one else.