Karnataka: Absence of Nephrologists in Govt Dialysis centres, Kidney Warriors Foundation files complaint

Bengaluru: A majority of state-run dialysis centres in Karnataka are running without a nephrologist and are carrying out dialysis without a dialysis prescription by nephrologists, thus putting the lives of a majority of dialysis patients in Karnataka in danger.  

The dialysis in around 145 of the 167 centres, operating under the Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme (PMNDP) in Karnataka, is being performed without a dialysis prescription by nephrologists, which violates a number of guidelines. 

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The Kidney Warriors Foundation, an organization comprising kidney patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and social workers, working to advocate for policies that improve access to healthcare and that strengthen the quality of care for patients with kidney disease, have filed a complaint with the Karnataka Medical Council (KMC) and State Human Rights Commission after receiving reports of this negligence. 

Stating that a technician cannot start dialysis without a prescription by the nephrologist, Vasundhara Raghavan, founder and CEO of Kidney Warriors Foundation told the Hindu, "It is shocking that many centres are functioning without a nephrologist. By managing the show through just dialysis technicians in PMNDP, the State and the private agency running these centres are putting the lives of many dialysis patients under risk. Patients are silently suffering from infections and illnesses. This amounts to denial of Right to Life and is a human rights’ violation."

The complaint submitted by the foundation pointed out, "As against the recommended four-hour dialysis session, patients are forced to undergo a 2-3 hour session. This is leading to the premature death of patients. If dialysis is done without supervision and a prescription specific to the individual’s health condition, it will lead to comorbidities - cardiac arrest, stroke, and other conditions. It can also result in death. As the machine is not properly serviced and same dialysis treatment is applied to all patients, dialysis patients suffer from improper and insufficient dialysis." 

Till 2021, BRS Health & Research Institute was responsible for the dialysis scheme accessed by 4,000 renal patients in 167 government-run centres across Karnataka. From August 2021, the scheme was managed by the Health Department under National Health Mission (NHM) till January 10, 2022. After that, the Kolkata-based ESKAG Sanjeevini Pvt. Ltd took over the management, and their contract ended in March 2022. Karnataka government, however, have floated new tenders very recently despite the contract of the last company ending months before. 

The dialysis patients have been suffering from a number of problems lately due to faulty machines and dysfunctional Medical Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants, high Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) value in plants which is above the permissible limits and hence unfit for dialysis, and other issues. 

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