The State government has decided to alter the modalities prescribed for the empanelled hospitals with respect to performing of hysterectomy surgery, a listed surgical treatment under Arogyasri health insurance scheme.

The decision was taken by a consensus at a meeting held here on Thursday by Arogyasri Minister P. Satyanarayana, with officials of the Arogyasri Health Care Trust, the implementing agency of the scheme, and prominent gynaecologists in the State, in the wake of the recent incidents in which uterus of young women were removed without valid reasons at some hospitals. These incidents have been reported from empanelled hospitals in Guntur, Krishna, Prakasam, Warangal, Hyderabad and Chittoor districts. The new modalities will seek to impose severe restrictions on all the empanelled hospitals while identifying a patient for hysterectomy and prescribe punishment both to the hospitals and the doctors if this surgery is performed on young women without proper reasons.

A decision was taken to allow hysterectomy surgery only if the woman patient is suffering from multiple fibroids, carcinoma in situ, carcinoma cervix state I and II, ovarian carcinoma, including chorio carcinoma and placental site and trophoblastic tumour.

Meanwhile, the inquiry ordered by the government into the incidents in the six districts is in full swing, with Vigilance officials visiting the hospitals and ascertaining the ground level facts by interacting with women patients.