Two labs charging more than Rs 600 for dengue test sealed

The district drug control department conducted searches at a private hospital and two private laboratories in the city on Thursday night after the department received information that these facilities were allegedly overcharging patients for dengue tests.

Last month, the health department had given directions to private hospitals and laboratories that they should not charge over Rs600 for the tests.

The laboratories of Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI), Sector 44, and KKR Laboratory on Khandsa road were found to be overcharging patients and were sealed by the district drug control department officials.

A search was also conducted at Lal Path Labs, Sector 14, based on a tipoff, but officials said the facility is following the stipulated laws.

Fortis and KKR were charging patients more than Rs600 for conducting a dengue test, an official of the health department said.

“It was learnt that the respective hospital and laboratory were violating norms set by the health department last month. Hence, some officials entered their premises as decoy patients to verify the claims. The entities were sealed after the raids,” Gurgaon chief medical officer Dr. Ramesh Dhankar said.

As per the health department, Fortis was charging patients Rs1,777 and KKR laboratory was charging Rs1,200 for the dengue NS1 Elisa test.

“The Rapid card test, an abbreviated test for dengue, was recently mandated by the government. This advisory was not updated with us. We ran the Elisa test, which is conclusive for dengue, accounting for the difference in the cost of the two. As this was on account of an information gap, we have offered an immediate refund. We would like to emphasise that our action to conduct the Elisa test was in the best interest of the patient,” an official spokesperson of FMRI, said.