Uterus removal surgery issue: Raj, Bihar get NHRC notices

National Human Rights Commission today issued notices to Chief Secretaries of Rajasthan and Bihar governments over allegations of uterus removal surgeries conducted under Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY).
The Commission has asked the Chief Secretaries to submit their reports in four weeks.
It took suo motu cognisance of a media report that large number of hysterectomies are being carried out on unsuspecting women who visited the hospitals for minor ailments such as stomachache or menstrual problems in Bihar's Samastipur district and Rajasthan's Dausa district.
Hysterectomy costs the highest of all the procedures under RSBY, which entitles families below poverty line for free treatment up to Rs 30,000 a year. Therefore, some greedy doctors conduct the surgery to siphon off public money, NHRC quoted the media report.

According to media reports, of the 14,851 procedures conducted under RSBY between 2010 and 2012 in in Samastipur, 5,503 were hysterectomies.
It was also found that some hospitals simply swiped the RSBY cards and never conducted the procedures, an NHRC statement said.
In Dausa district of Rajasthan, many FIRs were lodged against the doctors.
The report also discloses collusion of private hospitals with the government health practitioners in rural health centres, who are promised commission on referrals. Reportedly, the employees at government hospitals even act as agents and take patients to private clinics, the statement said.