Government officials in India are sparring over the replacement of the MRI scanner where a man was killed earlier this year when he carried an oxygen tank into the MRI suite.
At issue is the MRI scanner at Nair Hospital in Mumbai, where Rajesh Maruti Maru was killed in January as he was escorting a family member into the MRI room for an examination. Maru carried the tank past a metal detector that allegedly was not functioning, and he was killed when he and the tank were sucked into the magnet bore.
The incident has sparked investigations and recriminations as local authorities, hospital personnel, and Maru's family trade charges and countercharges. And you can now add the scanner's replacement to the list of disputes.
Mumbai's local governing body, Brihanmumbai Municipal (BMC), last week announced that it planned to spend the equivalent of $1.3 million to purchase a new MRI scanner. However, last month it said it would spend $240,000 to repair the damaged system, according to an article in the Mumbai Mirror.
One local politician noted that the damaged scanner was purchased in 2008; given the average 10-year lifespan of an MRI scanner, why would BMC spend money to repair the old system?
But hospital authorities responded that it could take as long as a year to work through the tender process and get a new scanner installed. Until then, Nair Hospital needs a functioning MRI scanner, they said.
