Delhi doc urges SC to change order on free tests…

Delhi doc urges SC to change order on free tests, says let private labs charge fee set by govt

In his plea, Dr Kaushal Kant Mishra urged the court to allow private labs to do the tests at the rate fixed by the ICMR, with the exception to provide free testing for people from the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), which should be reimbursed by the government.

Hearing the PIL, the apex court had on April 6 ordered that COVID-19 tests should be free even in private labs

A Delhi-based doctor on Saturday moved the Supreme Court, seeking modification of the court’s April 6 direction that COVID-19 tests should be conducted free in both private and government laboratories.

In his plea, Dr Kaushal Kant Mishra urged the court to allow private labs to do the tests at the rate fixed by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), with the exception to provide free testing for people from the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), which should be reimbursed by the government.

Mishra also urged the court to direct the government to “forthwith set up testing labs in all municipalities and panchayat areas”. This was necessary “so that free testing by the government can be increased to manage the capacity”, the plea added.

Hearing the PIL, the apex court had on April 6 said that private hospitals, including labs, have an important role to play in containing the scale of the pandemic by extending philanthropic services in this hour of national crisis and ordered that COVID-19 tests should be free even in private labs.

The order stated that the question whether these private labs are entitled for any reimbursement of expenses incurred “shall be considered later on”.

In his plea, Mishra said India is still testing far few people compared to most other countries. He said the present pandemic numbers in India are gradually increasing, “and are likely to see severe spikes in the coming weeks”, and “this is the point at which testing capacities must be at their maximum so that Governmental efforts to contain its spread can be suitably supplemented”.

“More than 11 million tests have been conducted across the world as of 9th April 2020 of which as per ICMR data, about 160,000 tests have been by India. While India’s positive cases are about 6,237 meaning only about 3.8% of those tested, in the United States having conducted 2.2 million tests, nearly 20% have shown up positive. Therefore, there is a clear correlation between greater testing and finding positive numbers”, he contended.

“With the Indian population of over 1.3 billion, the per capita levels of testing are again extremely low at this very critical time”, the medic said.

Though ICMR had issued a list of 67 private labs that were authorized to test for COVID-19, some of them had reservations about going ahead with testing unless it is clear where the funding for this would come from.

“There does not appear to be a clear commitment from the Governments, either Central or State to take on any extent of the burden”, said Mishra.

He added that on April 8, Government sources “have been quoted as saying that the coming week is a make-or-break week as far as testing is concerned, and admitting that the private labs have far greater mobility and reach because they are making money”.

Also, “several citizens have now been admitted and confined in hospitals and other facilities as COVID-19 suspects, but their test results remain pending for long periods, putting a strain on the system as well putting each of them at risk being in an environment where the virus may be at large”, he submitted.

“Even the present capacity of the labs, both Government and Private appear to be woefully insufficient to obtain accurate data and control the pandemic”, claimed Mishra.

“The consequence of all the above is that at a time when testing across the country has to be ramped up and the nation enters the most critical phase, the private labs have been emburdened with offering free testing, ignoring the fact that the few pathogen labs which are well equipped at the time of the disaster would be actually disincentivized to continue to function”, the plea said and pointed out that in the UK, private labs are charging as much as $425 (Rs 32,500) per test.