Mumbai: Month on, H1N1 patient critical, hospital bills Rs20 lakh

MUMBAI: A 32-year-old H1N1 patient from Bhayander is battling for life at Jaslok Hospital even as his family is staring at mounting hospital expenses that have surpassed Rs20 lakh.
Doctors say the case has once again highlighted the urgent need for awareness on influenza prevention, timely detection and treatment that can save families from financial distress.
Rahul Lodha’s battle with the respiratory ailment, previously called swine flu, began exactly a month ago with a regular bout of cough, cold and fever.Since then, the family has sought treatment in five hospitals and spent nearly Rs 22lakh.
His father, brother and other family members from Rajasthan, who are camping in the city, said they are raising money through trusts to support his treatment.
After being on ventilator for 14 days, he is now strapped to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, which bypasses the functioning of the lungs. The machine that pumps a patient’s blood with oxygen and removes carbon dioxide before pumping it back into the body costs between Rs45,000-Rs 1lakh daily.
H1N1 influenza, though self-limiting in most cases, can leave families in huge financial distress. Consultant physician Dr Hemant Thacker said cases like Rahul’s show the need to regulate the cost of tests. “For every case we diagnose, there are many going undetected because of the testing cost. At least three private laboratories charge Rs 7,000-8,000 for the test. The state must crack down on rates just like it has done for dengue,” he said, adding one of the reasons the city has not been recording cases is because testing is mostly limited to those who can afford it. Failure to detect the virus in time can also lead to complications forcing families to shell out a lot in treatment, he said.
A state official said profiteering and limited availability were the reasons they recommended testing only for hospitalized patients. “For others, doctors are supposed to start patients on Oseltamivir as soon as they suspect swine flu,” said the official.