When 42-year-old Asha, a resident of Kundur village in Kunigal taluk, approached the area MLA seeking help for her hip surgery, little did she know that the MLA himself would perform the surgery.
The woman, the sole breadwinner of her family, had undergone a total hip replacement 10 years ago at Sanjay Gandhi Hospital under a government scheme. Over time, her hip replacement failed and she was in pain. But, as a second surgery is not free under the government health scheme, she was unable to afford the surgery.
When he heard her plight, Congress MLA H.D. Ranganath representing Kunigal, an orthopaedic surgeon himself performed a hip revision surgery at the State-run Bowring and Lady Curzon Medical College Hospital. The MLA-doctor performed the three-and-a-half hour surgery, along with Dean and Director Bowring Hospital Manoj Kumar H.V. and another orthopaedic surgeon from Victoria Hospital Deepak Shivanna.
“The woman first went to a private hospital and then to a government facility. But as the cost of the implant itself is around ₹2 lakh, she was unable to afford the surgery. I arranged CSR funds through some company and got the implant sponsored. Although I am into politics, I am continuing my practice and have been doing joint replacement surgeries,” Dr. Ranganath told The Hindu.
He said the State’s health schemes are of no use to poor patients as a second surgery is not covered. “This is unfair and a patient may require a second surgery if the first fails. I will write to the Centre urging that the norms under Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka (AB-ArK) be revised for the benefit of poor patients. I will also raise this issue in the Assembly and demand suitable revision of norms,” he said.
The surgery was done on Monday and the woman is doing fine. She will require to be in hospital for around two weeks, said Dr. Manoj.
