Poor patients in need of Biplane Angiography for brain and spine are facing great hardships due to non-functional Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA) machine here at the Lahore General Hospital (LGH). Sources in the LGH told Business Recorder that the LGH had bought the DSA machine in the year 1989 against Rs 120 million.
The machine remained functional till July 2004 however went out of order due to some technical problems. According to the sources, a group of doctors in the LGH are deliberately avoiding to repair the machine or replace it with a new piece. There are three private hospitals in Lahore who have the facility to do Biplane Angiography and charge at least Rs 20, 000 that a poor patient cannot afford, the sources added.
Moreover, the technicians and doctors conducting the test at the LGH are also serving in these private hospitals offering the facility that has further delayed to make the DSA machine functional at the LGH just to save their wasted interests.
Here, it is worth mentioning that Biplane Angiography is required for patients facing stroke or brain haemorrhage. Therefore, poor patients of Lahore have urged the Punjab Chief Minister, Mian Shahbaz Sharif to take notice of the situation and pass necessary orders to make the DSA machine functional.