Discrepancies in the results of medical tests conducted on the same patient on separate dates exposed the unreliability of medical tests conducted in various departments of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).
A 50-year-old man from Layyah, Khalid Hussain Awan, brought his 45-year-old wife, Tasleem Kausar, to PIMS seeking treatment for her joint pains. Doctors from various departments of PIMS, including the departments of Immunology, Haematology and Chemical Pathology, conducted various tests on the patient such as hepatitis-B tests, complete blood picture (blood CP) test and sugar tests.
A blood CP test conducted on August 3 revealed that Kausar’s haemoglobin (Hb) level was down to 6.6 g/dl (with reference to the normal range of 11-18 g/dl) and a hepatitis B test conducted on July 30 revealed that the patient was positive for the disease. Awan, however, was sceptical of the results as his wife had undergone surgery last month and tests conducted then had showed that she was negative for hepatitis B and had a normal Hb level.
Awan called for the tests to be reconducted and results obtained this time around were completely different from previous results; Kausar was tested negative for hepatitis B and her Hb level was 12.6. These discrepancies between the successive tests render questionable the authenticity of the thousands of tests conducted daily at PIMS. The ramifications of the possibility of bogus test results could include people being treated for ailments they may not have.
Awan told Pakistan Today, “My wife was suffering from joint pains and I brought her to PIMS from Layyah so she could get better treatment here, but look at the reports of her tests; they show conflicting results- which result should I believe in?.” He further lamented that if he had allowed the treatment of Hepatitis-B to begin on the basis of the bogus reports, so much time, money and suffering would have gone for nothing.
“Now the doctors are on strike and my wife and I are staying with a relative in Rawalpindi. We’re waiting for the strike to end so that we could visit a doctor for consultation.” When contacted, PIMS Consultant Microbiologist Dr Shagufta Hussain said, “This issue is already in our notice. The first blood sample, taken on July 30, was seen positive for hepatitis-B while the second sample taken on August 3 was negative for hepatitis-B, so I believe there was some problem in collection of the blood samples.”
Shagufta added that she had already sent the blood samples to a private lab for confirmation of results. “If the negligence took place in the pre-analytic process of testing, our department will take immediate action as this is a serious issue,” she said.
