There have been several complaints of overcharging and irregularities by the prominent labs during the Covid times, mostly on the Covid testing.
At a time when the nation was seeing a massive surge in the number of new corona cases every day, there were labs which were overcharging people to conduct the test of Covid 19, despite the government guidelines that restricted them from overcharging people and fixed the rate of the tests.
A simple search on social media platforms gives a sense of how many people actually fell prey to the greed of even the prominent labs like Dr Pathlabs.
People from various states took to social media to complain about being overcharged and other irregularities they were facing during the second wave of Corona virus, raising serious questions on the working of Dr Lal Pathlabs.
We scanned the social media networks for some time and tried contacting a couple of people to know what their version of story was.
Case 1: Covid has been challenging to everyone, many has lost their life. But in these difficult times many healthcare organizations have been looting people. There are several stories coming from different parts of the country. Mr. Kamaal from Gajraula, UP shared his story.
“During the month May, when COVID was on peak, my niece was suffering from diarrhea so Doctor advised me to get done the RTPCR test. I went to the nearest Lal Path Labs to enquire about rates and procedure. They said the fee for the RTPCR test is 1250 INR. I asked why?? , As the government decided rate for RTPCR test in private hospitals is somewhere between 600-750 INR and you are charging 1250?? I received a rapid and blunt reply from the receptionist, we charge this much only, if you want to get tested its fine else return to your home. This inhuman and insensitive reply are evident that how money has been looted from the public in these testing times.”
Case 2: Mr Anil has also faced the similar problems because of irresponsible behavior from the health care organization.
Anil got covid symptoms on 2nd April, got himself tested negative on 20th April. After that he was doing well but as a precautionary measure, he got himself tested of all the recommended tests like D-dimer, IL6, etc. But the result he received was unbelievable his IL-6 was 526 from the reports of Lal Path Labs. Next day, he got tested from thyrocare where his IL-6 was 2.6. He inquired about his reports through twitter with both the labs and asked the details of the test, while Thyrocare has not replied. He received a call from Lal Path labs that his report is absolutely right and his IL-6 is 526. The Normal range of IL-6 is somewhere expected to be around 5, and the person in ICU has around 80-100. Mr. Anil report has Il-6 value of 526, is clearly wrong and tweaked as he is fit and fine physically till date, and medically 500+ value of IL-6 is unexpectable, But Lal Pathlabs does not take the responsibility of the mistake.
