Ranga's immunity was normal while he was with us -- Apollo

Ranga's immunity was normal while he was with us -- Apollo
SREELATHA MENON

NEW DELHI, OCT 5: Apollo Hospital today said it had done many immunological tests, excluding for HIV, on late Union minister Rangarajan Kumaramangalam after they found the neutrophil level in his blood going down. But in Apollo, it added, he never suffered from neutropenia or loss of ability to fight infection caused by abnormally low levels of neutrophils.

The hospital was defending itself against the observation in the government inquiry report that Kumaramangalam's doctors should have probed deeper into his immunity status after they found his decreased neutrophils count.

Chairman of Apollo Group of Hospitals Dr Pratap Reddy, who addressed the press conference here flanked by his two daughters (both directors of the group), claimed Kumaramangalam was not suffering from neutropenia when he was treated at Apollo between April 14 and 24, and his blood counts were normal. However, he admitted that Kumaramangalam's neutrophils were on the low side, but without crossing the normal limit. (The normal count of neutrophils in blood is between 1,500 and 7,500. Kumaramangalam had about 1,600.)

Reddy said that this had made the hospital do some tests for immunity like ANA and Anti DS DNA. ``We tested for conditions like diabetes and vascular disorders where immunity is low.'' He added that tests for HIV were considered but were never pursued as these were found unnecessary on the basis of the symptoms.

When asked if rise in lymphocytes and lowering of neutrophils indicated possible leukaemia, Dr Harsh Dua, Haematolgist at Apollo Hospital, indicated yes. But he added that it could also indicate non-leukaemia disorders, like viral infections, drugs and severe pneumonia. Reddy said that tests were done for diabetes and vascular disorders which cause immuno suppression. Even cancer of the lung causes immuno suppression, he pointed out, adding that it had been ruled out.

Reddy, however, struggled when asked why Kumaramangalam's doctors had failed to see reports of the tests he had on May 8, two weeks after being discharged from the hospital. Noting that reports of a patient do not go to his consultant unless the patient took these themselves, Reddy added that hundreds of people got tests done at Apollo without ever seeing doctors. ``Kumaramangalam got the reports picked up the next day through his personal staff but never came and saw the doctor,'' Reddy said.

Incidentally, Kumaramangalam's son Mohan has denied that his father had got the reports picked up by anyone from his personal staff.

Reddy also brushed away queries as to how doctors could miss checking up on a VIP patient, who had in any case been asked to come for follow-up tests. Instead, he claimed that Kumaramangalam's visit to the hospital was proof that his doctors had been able to convince him of the need to do follow-up tests. But it is also possible that some other doctors had advised him to take the tests, he admitted. The inquiry report has criticised Apollo for not pressing upon the patient the urgency for follow-up tests.

The third point on which the inquiry report has pulled up the hospital is on why the doctors did not consult a haematologist after finding Kumaramangalam's blood count to be unsatisfactory. While Dr Prasada Rao, the treating physician, said the need for this was not felt, Reddy said a haemato pathologist, Sangeeta Rawat, was looking at the slides.