For almost ten years 41-year-old Ganesh Sukdeo has been suffering from debilitating abdominal pain among other medical complaints, but nothing was worse than being told recently by the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) that his pains are not real and that he is fit to work.
A frustrated Sukdeo, who has been making his contributions faithfully to NIS as a self-employed person – he operates a shop at his Lusignan address – was told by NIS’s medical board that he has “psychosomatic pains” which at first he did not understand, but he recognized something was wrong when they also said he would be fit for work from February 2, 2012. The three doctors sitting on the board had a brief meeting with him on August 15, 2012.
“How could they diagnose me when they did not do any test or anything? They just saw me for a few minutes and the nurse read out that I was diagnosed in 2010, but that is a lie because I been submitting medicals and was diagnosed in 2008 with Crohns disease,” the man told the Sunday Stabroek in a recent interview.
For its part NIS through it Public Relations Officer (PRO) Dianne Lewis-Baxter said that Sukdeo was found fit to work by the board which had been advised by a specialist doctor.
Sukdeo came to this newspaper’s office with a bundle of medical records dating back to April 4, 2003.
After receiving the letter from the NIS medical board the man said he researched the term ‘psychosomatic pain‘ and found that it is a mental sickness.
According to Wikipedia the condition is “physical pain that is caused, increased, or prolonged by mental, emotional, or behavioural factors.” It was stated that headache, back pain, or stomach pain are some of the most common types of psychogenic pain.
The man feels that the diagnosis came about because NIS had balked at continuing to pay for his medication for Crohn‘s disease, which is not curable. Crohn’s disease, also known as regional enteritis, is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that may affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus, causing a wide variety of symptoms. In particular it causes abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting or weight loss. It may also cause complications outside the gastrointestinal tract such as skin rashes, arthritis, inflammation of the eye, tiredness, and lack of concentration. Some of the latter symptoms, such as the skin rash, are suffered by Sukhdeo who bared his chest and stomach to this newspaper exposing the rashes on his skin. Medication can in many cases control the inflammation, keep the symptoms down, and reduce the probability of a relapse.
What made it worse for the father of two is that one of the doctors on the board had treated him in 2008 for acid reflux disease which is a condition in which the oesophagus becomes irritated or inflamed because of acid backing up from the stomach. He said he reminded the doctor of this and produced the records to prove that he indeed was treated by him, but yet the ruling was that he was imagining his pain.
However, Lewis-Baxter when contacted said that the scheme had referred Sukdeo to a specialist doctor who conducted several laboratory tests in an effort to ascertain his medical condition. She said that it was the specialist who would have advised the doctors on the Medical Board, who would have been provided with the results of the tests conducted. The PRO said that Sukdeo is seeking invalidity benefits which would have meant that he could not do any type of work, but based on the advice of the specialist he can do certain types of job.
Sukdeo, however, disputes that he has the capacity to work: “I don’t know what else to do because my children are in school, and I am honest when I say I can’t even stand up for two hours properly, and if I had to go out I have to ensure I don’t eat because then I can’t go as it’s vomiting and diarrhoea,” the man said almost close to tears.
He showed this newspaper a public assistance medical inquiry review form which was filled up by his current doctor which stated that he has ulcerative colitis (inflammatory bowel disease) which would get progressively worse and would make it difficult for him to work owing to pain. However, he said when he took the form into the NIS office at Lusignan he was told that he had to be seen by a government employed doctor.
The man recounted how he was being treated by doctors, but that this was suddenly discontinued after they told him they had been contacted by NIS. One said he could continue the treatment but he would no longer be filling NIS forms.
2003
Sukdeo told this newspaper that in April of 2003 he was admitted to the George-town Public Hospital (GPH) where he was diagnosed with heart disease, and upon his discharge he joined the clinic which he attended for five years taking medication. Later he was referred to the Lusignan Health Centre, but in 2008 he was summoned by a female NIS doctor who informed him that he could not be treated at the health centre any longer, and he was referred to a doctor. That doctor treated him for acid reflux disease but one month later he was referred to yet another doctor, who also diagnosed acid reflux disease. However, he said the doctor later told him that nothing was wrong with him and put him on valium and discharged him from his clinic.
On September 13, 2008 the man said he was hospitalized at the St Joseph Mercy Hospital for 17 days suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting.
He was later diagnosed by a doctor at that hospital with Crohn’s disease and that doctor treated him until November 17 last year. He said he was receiving a variety of tablets and would attend the clinic monthly for a refill. According to Sukdeo, when he turned up at the clinic in November he found a very angry doctor who told him NIS was calling him and that he would have to stop treating him.
Sukdeo said he visited another doctor who put him on the same treatment as the previous one, but recommended that he have a colonoscopy done. He sent him to a doctor to get that done, but because of the rectal bleeding he was experiencing he was subsequently referred to another doctor at Woodlands Hospital. That doctor – a senior member of the Guyana Medical Board – treated him for one month, before he also discontinued the treatment saying he had been contacted by NIS. By this time Sukdeo said he was at his wits end, but he again saw the NIS doctor at the Melanie office who gave him a sealed letter to take to another doctor and he said he was later given a copy of the letter which was shown to this newspaper. The letter stated that Sukdeo had a history of Crohn’s disease, but on February 2, 2012, “he was seen and examined by the Medical Adviser, National Insurance Scheme, who after finding him stable has decided to refer him to you for assessment of his present status and suitability to work.”
Sukdeo said the doctor to whom he was referred ran a few blood tests but he refused to accept the colonoscopy results on the grounds that the doctor who provided them was not qualified to conduct such a test and he was told he had to do another test at the expense of NIS – the scheme had paid for part of the first colonoscopy. However, he was told to return home and wait for a call to have the test done, but Sukdeo said the call never came even though he called the doctor’s office on several occasions and also called NIS.
In the interim he returned to the doctor at Woodlands who told him he would only treat him if he paid for the treatment, and that he would not fill out any further NIS forms. Upon receiving this news he returned to the doctor who had done the colonoscopy, and he commenced treatment following which he submitted his medical bills to NIS. However, he was later called by the NIS doctor who gave him a letter indicating that he was fit for work since the doctor the Scheme had referred him to had found no medical condition.
“I don’t know how he could say that, because he did not do any colonoscopy, even though I had records to show I was diagnosed with Crohn‘s disease,” the man said.
He said even though his records from the doctor at St Joseph‘s Mercy Hospital stated that he suffered from Crohn‘s disease the NIS doctor told him he was lying and that they would accept no further medicals at the scheme.
The man then wrote the General Manager of the scheme complaining, and said he had records to support his story and she responded. He was later written by a nursing officer instructing that he attend a meeting with the Medical Board.
“I cannot work more than two hours a day, so I am seeking my benefit because I am above the disability threshold. I have paid 714 contributions. I am now seeking justice about my benefits,” the man said.
He said the cost for his monthly medication is $25,000 and he cannot afford to purchase this on his own.
