SAMUEL K. MATHAI Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner seeks a directions to respondents 1 to 4 to reimburse him an amount of Rs.3,44,774.00, which he says was the amount he has expended for "diagnosing and treating Prostate Cancer" (sic) in a private hospital.

(2.) The petitioner edifices his claim on Ext.P1 - "Cancer Care Policy", which is promoted by the National Savings Department, Government of Kerala, through 'Indira Vikas Patra' deposits. He asserts that, as is evident from Ext.P2, the members of the afore scheme had been promised "all tools of diagnosis and treatment for cancer"(sic), but that, contrary to this, when he approached the Medical College Hospital, Kottayam - when there was a suspicion of him having developed carcinoma in the prostate - he was asked to undergo a 'TRUS Guided Prostate Scan', which could not be done there because they did not have the facility for the necessary MRI scan.

(3.) The petitioner asserts that, as is medically recognised and therefore, without requirement of further expatiation, a 'TRUS Guided Prostate Scan' can be done only after the area is identified through an MRI scan and that; subsequent to this, the patient also may have to undergo a whole body 'PET-CT Scan' to verify the extend of the metastasis. He asserts that, since it was certified, on his request, by the Superintendent of the Medical College Hospital, Kottayam, through Ext.P5, that the said Institution did not have an MRI Scan machine of its own and that since no 'PET-CT' facility either was available, he was constrained to seek such support and facilities from a private hospital. He adds that, as is further evident from Ext.P5, the Superintendent of the Medical College Hospital also certified that no Robotic Surgery facilities are available in its department of Radio Diagnosis; and adds that he was thus constrained to approach a private hospital and to expend the afore amount, which according to him, is now obligatory on the part of the respondents to reimburse, under ambit of Ext.P1 scheme.