In a departmental inquiry into alleged large-scale procedural irregularities, it has come to light that about 50 per cent of evaluated patients, who underwent advanced cardiac surgical procedures at the Anantnag Government Medical College, did not even require them.
Apart from this, the Jammu and Kashmir Health and Medical Education Department has further flagged fraudulent insurance claims, patient exploitation and unnecessary procedures on healthy patients, PTI reported.
At the facility, Dr Syed Maqbool, a Cardiologist, has been named for alleged large-scale procedural irregularities as well as manipulation of official medical records.
The case is related to the alleged pacemaker implantation scam that involves 103 cardiac patients. Experts have found out that 27 out of 55 patients, who underwent the procedure, had normal heart function. It added that “there was absolutely no medical reason to perform such procedures”.
Among multiple charges against the doctor include falsification of records, exploiting patients, system-wide fraud. The doctor is said to have colluded with private vendors for the same.
“You booked and claimed 103 cases on the Transaction Management System (TMS) under the ‘Dual Chamber Pacemaker Implantation’ package (Code: MC016A). However, physical records prove you have actually performed Left Bundle Branch Area Pacing (LBBAP). This intentional misrepresentation was designed to siphon public welfare funds from the PMJAY/SEHAT scheme under a false clinical pretext,” the charges levelled by the department said, according to PTI.
Without providing any clinical justification, the inquiry states that the doctor allegedly performed highly advanced and invasive LBBAP procedures on patients.
Among the 55 suspected LBBAP cases, 27 patients (49 per cent) had completely normal left ventricular function and a wide QRS morphology, the inquiry revealed.