MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court issued notices in a plea seeking to establish bone marrow transplantation surgery facilities and appoint a special team of doctors at the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai.
A division bench of Justices R Subramanian and L Victoria Gowri was hearing a petition filed by RTI Activist A Veronica Mary of Madurai. She submitted that bone marrow failure causes the marrow to become inactive leading to a decrease in blood cells. Bone marrow transplant surgery is an important procedure for the treatment of rare conditions such as aplastic anaemia. The number of people suffering from bone marrow problems in the state has been increasing, the petition said.
Private hospitals charge between Rs 15 lakh to 20 lakh for treatment, but no such treatment facility is available at the GRH. The surgery is available only at one government hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Memorial General Hospital in Chennai. As many as 101 people have benefited from the treatment there in recent years. Depending on the patient's condition, patients were required to stay 30 to 50 days at the hospital. Patients from districts far away from Chennai such as Kanniyakumari, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Krishnagiri, Thoothukudi, Madurai, Theni, and Dindigul depend on the Chennai facility, she submitted.
She sought the court to direct the establishment of bone marrow transplantation surgery facilities and appoint a special team of doctors and other medical staff at the GRH for patients of southern districts of the state.