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Suryapet: MO of PHC suspended for collecting Rs 500 deposit for antigen test

By Telangana Today

Published: Updated On - 07:42 PM, Mon - 26 April 21

In-charge Medical Officer of Penphad PHC, Kranthi Kumar had imposed a “rule” that people coming to the PHC for Covid test should deposit Rs 500 which would be returned to them only if they test positive for Coronavirus In-charge Medical Officer of Penphad PHC, Kranthi Kumar had imposed a “rule” that people coming to the PHC for Covid test should deposit Rs 500 which would be returned to them only if they test positive for Coronavirus

Suryapet: The District Medical and Health Officer of Suryapet district suspended Kranthi Kumar, the in-charge Medical Officer of Primary Heath Centre at Penphad, on Monday for collecting Rs 500 from people as deposit to undergo Rapid Antigen Test.

Kranthi Kumar had imposed a “rule” that people coming to the PHC for Covid test should deposit Rs 500 which would be returned to them only if they test positive for Coronavirus. This, he claimed, was to control the rush of panic-driven people rushing to the PHC for testing.

A video in which the Medical Officer spoke about his decision went viral on social media platforms. In the video, Kranthi Kumar says people were queuing up at the PHC without having any symptoms even as there were only limited number of rapid antigen test kits with them.

To discourage unnecessary testing, he took the decision as all symptomatic patients had to be tested first.

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