Teen’s treatment caught in red tape

NEW DELHI: Rahul Safi is 17 years old but looks like a Class V student. His younger brother has outgrown him by more than a foot. Rahul's stunted growth is the result of growth hormone deficiency, but even now his condition is treatable. What he needs is a long course of injections. So, while all his classmates are busy preparing for Class XII Board exams, Rahul is doing the rounds of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Reason: the Delhi government had issued relief funds for his case last month but he is unable to get the injections that need to be administered daily as part of the treatment.

"I have to disrupt my study and come here regularly. The doctor has said discontinuation of the medicine may lead to serious physical and psychological consequences," said Safi, who lives in Bharat Vihar, Kirari, northwest Delhi. His father is a loader in a private firm and cannot afford to buy the medicines which cost about Rs 600 per dose.

"The cost of his treatment is Rs 18,000 per month for the next two to three years. In the absence of this treatment, he is likely to suffer from serious physical and psychological consequences of short stature," reads the recommendation of the treating doctor which is required to apply for relief money.

Documents available with TOI show that Rahul, who had applied to the government for relief money under the Delhi Arogya Scheme, received a letter of confirmation on December 27. It stated that a cheque for Rs 2.16 lakh had been issued in the name of the AIIMS director for procurement of the injectible growth hormone.

"I was excited that my treatment can be continued with state funds. But there seems to be some problem. The hospital says it does not accept cheques from the said authority," Rahul said.

AIIMS' medical superintendent Dr D K Sharma said the institute has its own internal mechanism for helping poor patients. "We do not accept cheques from the state fund for buying medicines," he said. When TOI raised the issue with the Director Health Services, Dr N V Kamat, he accepted the fault lay on their side. "AIIMS is not supposed to buy injections. The cheque should have been sent to our own department and we will buy the injections," said Kamat. However, no such intimation had been made to the patient, he confirmed.

Delhi Arogya Kosh was registered under the Societies Registration Act on September 6, 2011, to provide financial assistance for medical treatment of poor people afflicted with serious illnesses. It covers life threatening disorders, heart diseases, cancer and kidney diseases and any other disease or surgery procedure which the governing body would term as life debilitating condition or disease. "Recently, we decided to issue relief money to the needy patients for life-saving medicines also," said Kamat.

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