Bihar govt hospital wrongly diagnoses man with cancer

DARBHANGA: A man’s life was almost ruined as the Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) in Bihar misdiagnosed a tumour on his nose as cancerous, prompting the family to take him to Mumbai where the mistake was detected.

The case also underscored an alleged nexus between private and government healthcare facilities in the state. The 50-year-old patient’s biopsy specimen was sent for a histopathological examination to a private laboratory, but the family got the report on a DMCH pad, signed by the head of its pathology department.

The patient was operated for a nodular lesion over the nasal bone at a private clinic in Darbhanga in August.

“His biopsy specimen was sent to a private pathology centre the day the surgery was done. The report of the test, prepared by the DMCH pathology department, received in the first week of September revealed that the patient was suffering from ‘well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma’, a type of cancer,” said technology solutions expert Amit Jha, the nephew of the patient. “My family was devastated after my uncle was diagnosed with cancer … and he was taken to Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) in Mumbai for treatment,” he said.

A review of his biopsy slides at Tata Memorial Centre showed the misdiagnosis. The Mumbai hospital’s report on October 5 says the tumour was benign.

A relieved Jha said: “It was like waking up from a bad dream.”

“The private laboratory is run by the head of the DMCH pathology department. Hence, we have reasons to believe that he could have transferred the specimen ...” Jha said.

The private lab charged ₹800 for the test, which is conducted free of cost in DMCH.

A DMCH doctor, who did not want to be identified, alleged that biopsy specimens were collected from private clinics and histopathology examination was done in DMCH for a nominal ₹50.

But DMCH principal RK Sinha dismissed the allegation. “I have spoken to the head of pathology about it,” he said.