Sunanda (name changed), a 53-year-old Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia patient, is looking at an improbable scenario of spending nearly a lakh unless she gets her costly medicines supplied for free under a scheme as was the case before the lockdown.
A patient of the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram, she used to get a free strip of tablets costing around ₹7,000 under the Karunya Benevolent Fund Scheme while the pharmaceutical company delivered a month’s supply for free on applying with the bill of that strip.
Though she has registered with the government’s emergency medicine delivery service using the Fire and Rescue Services for uninterrupted supply of medicines during the lockdown, she claimed she was told that her representative would have to come to the hospital and complete some formalities for that to happen.
She said it wasn’t safe to send her aged husband who was also not keeping well under the prevailing circumstances and that there were more such patients suffering in a similar manner.
Regulations
RCC authorities said that regulations are in place in the case of some rarely prescribed and slow-moving medicines owing to logistical and medical reasons though steps are being taken to address those issues as well.
“We don't want to leave out anyone and we are working out things since we are facing an unprecedented situation,” said Sajeed A., RCC Medical Superintendent.
Hospitals identified
He said that the RCC along with the Directorate of Health Services had identified 21 hospitals across the State through which cancer treatment would be provided. In addition to this facility, the RCC is also supplying prescribed medicines directly to patients in all the districts through the Kerala Fire and Rescue Service and the Kerala State Youth Commission.
Jineesh Kumar, a fire and rescue officer in Thiruvananthapuram, confirmed that some rare and costly medicines meant for cancer patients were not being made available under the emergency service citing apprehension of misuse.
“The argument of misuse is baseless since pharmaceutical companies supply free medicines only against the bill of free strips supplied under the Karunya Scheme not to mention the verification by a doctor. So, this amounts to denial of right to treatment,” said S. Jessin, a lawyer practising in Kochi and whose mother is undergoing cancer treatment.