Monday, September 12, 2005

Cancer sufferer blood test shows him to be healthy despite a tumour

He paid RM198 – supposedly a subsidised rate – for a blood test after attending a cancer awareness talk that was purportedly endorsed by the Health Ministry.
Remisier Jim Kow Chee Meng, 46, was happy when a “doctor” told him the result of the blood test on April 22. He was “perfectly healthy.”
However, he had a nagging feeling when the “doctor” refused to talk about a lump on the left side of his neck.
Kow decided to get a second opinion although the lump was not causing him any pain.
On April 29, he underwent a Computed Tomography (commonly called a CAT scan) and a biopsy at a medical centre.
On May 5, he heard the dreaded news.
He has nasal cancer and it has spread to his throat.
The tumour was about the size of a golf ball and it was at the third stage, nearing the advanced stage.
“I am disappointed there are people making money by cheating others about their health,” he told The Star.
Relating his predicament after reading a front-page report in the paper about a bogus non-governmental organisation conducting blood tests at a subsidised rate to detect cancer, Kow said:
“Although the speaker informed us (the audience) that the blood test could detect cancer, the lab test did not indicate any unusual reading.
“Secondly, after the so-called doctor told me I did not have any medical problem, I showed her the lump on my neck. But she refused to talk about it.”
Kow said he doubted the blood test results although the company claimed that two laboratories were responsible for the quality testing.
“The Health Ministry should put an end to this rip-off because the group has been operating for more than a year.
“Until and unless the authorities take action, many more people may be cheated,” he added.
Source

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