Jharkhand doctor prescribes pregnancy test for men, probe ordered

RANCHI: In a bizarre incident, a doctor at a government hospital in Chatra, prescribed pregnancy tests for men, who were brought to him after they complained of stomach-ache. Though the concerned doctor claimed that he has been framed, the Civil Surgeon has ordered inquiry to get into the details of the matter.

The matter was disclosed after 22-year-old Gopal Ganjhu and 26-year-old Kameshwar Ganjhu, reached a pathology lab where they were told that they have been asked to undergo pregnancy tests. Both the men returned without getting any test conducted on them and narrated the whole incident to others in the village.

The doctor had prescribed ANC, which is conducted to check whether a woman is pregnant or not, along with HIV, HBA, HCV, CBC and HH. When the matter was highlighted in the media, the Civil Surgeon ordered a probe.

"The matter was put to my notice only on Saturday following which, I have ordered the doctor in-charge to look into the matter," said Civil Surgeon Arun Kumar Paswan. It may be a conspiracy hatched by the quacks who don’t want any doctor in this hospital, he added.

However, the doctor denied the claims and alleged that he had been framed as the hospital register maintains the name of the two men’s wives – Amrita Devi and Devanti Devi.

"This is nothing but to malign my image as both the patients had come with their wives, who, instead of entering their own names, registered names of their husbands on hospital prescription. Treatment of the women was done and tests were prescribed accordingly which is also mentioned in the hospital register,” said doctor Mukesh Kumar.

All this confusion erupted due to the wrong entry of names of the two husbands, he added.

Earlier in July, a doctor in East Singhbhum had prescribed condoms to a woman who had complained of stomach pain. When she visited a medicine shop to purchase medicines, she was told that the prescribed medicine on the prescription was a condom.