A Rs-4,000 CT scan to investigate a bout of indigestion. An entire body bone scan for Rs 2,500 for a non-malignant breast lump. A Rs-1,500 CT brain scan for headaches…

The list is endless. The more the technological breakthroughs in diagnostics, the more the tests. And Calcuttans are complaining about the spiralling costs in healthcare. Just finding out what they are suffering from makes them broke.

Doctors argue that medico-legal issues, especially the threat of litigation, have left them with no alternative but to advise an array of investigations. “We can no more rely on clinical diagnosis alone, we need proof in the form of test reports to back our findings,” says Susovan Haldar, a respiratory disease specialist.

Subhasis Chatterjee, 23, who underwent a gall bladder stone surgery at a prominent city nursing home last week, recalls how 20 different blood tests, an ultrasonography, a CT scan and an MRI, costing him nearly Rs 17,000, were done.

It was then that the surgeon decided to operate on him. “I had reached a critical stage by that time, but the doctor insisted he would not touch me before he got the results. I am happy to be alive now,” says Chatterjee, recuperating at home.

When Bhaswati Sarkar, 40, consulted a doctor for a breast lump, she was asked to undergo a Rs-2,500 whole body bone scan and a Rs-3,000 ultrasonogram, among other tests, even before the cancer diagnosis was carried out. The results were all negative, but Sarkar was totally confused.

“If I did not have cancer, why did I have to spend so much money?” she asked cancer specialist Gautam Mukhopadhyay, whom she met for a second opinion. “All I could tell her was that the doctor was not sure about the case,” Mukhopadhyay said.

“I would not blame the doctor, because insurance company lawyers demand why an MRI or CT scan was not done if anything went wrong. I have seen many such cases recently,” Haldar adds.

Sajal Dutta, president of the Association of Hospitals in Eastern India, a conglomerate of top city private hospitals, says a combination of “legal issues” and “advances in technology” have hiked the price of medical investigation. “We will surely take this up at the association meetings,” he says.

City-based medico legal expert P. Basu, who is a consultant for at least 50-odd doctors, agrees that medical negligence cases have made doctors wary. “They have become more careful now.” On an average, 30-40 cases of medical negligence are filed every month at various courts in Bengal. Five years ago, this was nearly half.