Shillong, May 4: Head of Cardiology department in the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health & Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), Dr Animesh Mishra said the department is open to any kind of inquiry into the recent allegations made by the administration of the institute.

“We are open to inquiry and we have written letters to the concerned authorities to constitute any kind of internal or external inquiry,” Dr Mishra told reporters on Saturday.

In a statement issued by the public relations officers (PRO) of the institute Dr KK Pandita, the NEIGRIHMS administration had accused the HoD cardiology of conniving with a private vendor to sell stents at a very high price, despite the capping of rates by the ministry.

Dr Pandita had said that the director of NEIGRIHMS during his hospital round on April 30, found the vendor carrying four bags full of stents/pacemakers heading towards Cath Lab.

“…the matter was referred to the Chief Security Officer and Chief Vigilance Officers of NEIGRIHMS, who took serious cognizance of illegal trade in the hospital, and cheating of the poor patients by the vendor with the help of HoD cardiology and ceased the supplies…,” the PRO said.

Denying the allegations, Dr Mishra said, he is confident that there is not a single patient who has been operated in violation of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) guidelines.

He also invites the patients from Meghalaya and entire North East region to file valid complaints, if they have found that the department of cardiology has violated the guidelines.

“I urged any patient in Meghalaya who have been treated beyond (Rs 30,000) to file a complaint and help the Government of India and the institution to arrive at a conclusion,” Dr Mishra said.

He informed that the department has given complete information about the patients along with their telephone numbers to the members of Parliament Committee on Health, which has visited the cardiology department last year.

A complete report was also submitted to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare on the number patients operated in NEIGRIHMS, for any enquiry, he added.

On the allegation of conniving with a private vendor, the head of the cardiology department said, “It is an undeniable fact that there is only one shop in the entire Meghalaya where stents are available. He (private vendor) is following guidelines proposed by the NPPA which broadly speaks that no stent price should be more than Rs 30,000, and not a single patient has purchased a stent exceeding the NPPA guidelines.”

“Now we come to know of the prices when the patients buy and bring it to the department. We have a roster where we enrolled whatever items being purchased and whatever items not used and returned to the patients,” he said.

With regards to the complaint against him for not cooperating with the administration, Dr Mishra said, “This is not correct. If I am not cooperating, why I should be here for 15 years? Patients from across the country and abroad came here and it will not happen without cooperation. As far as the slur on my image, I have full faith in the institutional mechanism, Centre and state governments to examine the matter.”

Meanwhile, the HoD also informed that the director of NEIGRIHMS, Dr DM Thapa had filed a complaint before the Chief Vigilance Commission, Government of India against the department of cardiology in May last year.

“The matter was referred to the Ministry and I have submitted my clarification with all the supporting documents and subsequently a show cause notice was served to the director NEIGRIHMS,” he said.

He said that after he was called for an enquiry on February 7 this year, a show cause notice was served to the director for making a false accusation, adding that it was also questioned as to why the director should ask the commercial names of stents in the government correspondences.

“I was asked (by the director) to provide the commercial names, but I denied and give generic specification as per MCI guidelines. Subsequently, the matter was examined, and I was given an advisory from the Ministry that I should not speak in loud voice with the director,” Dr Mishra said.