Fake tests and fake patients: What is AAP's 'Mohalla clinics' scam?

A new “scam” has rocked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is already under scrutiny by probe agencies, further complicating matters for Arvind Kejriwal, the party’s convenor. The Mohalla Clinics, the AAP’s premier healthcare initiative in Delhi, is currently under fire for hundreds of “fake” lab tests performed at the neighbourhood clinics set up to offer free primary healthcare to Delhi residents. This comes just days after it was revealed that Delhi’s state-run hospitals were receiving substandard medicines, and the Enforcement Directorate served Kejriwal with its third summons in connection with the excise policy “scam.” The Mohalla Clinic “scam” Since 1 January 2023, the Mohalla Clinics in the city have offered poor patients free access to 450 different types of medical testing. To carry them out, two private businesses were hired. The alleged fraud was initially discovered in September 2023 when it was learned that a number of physicians and staff at seven Mohalla Clinics in the Southwest, Shahdara, and Northeast regions were using pre-recorded videos to falsely certify their attendance. According to the latest media reports, the Mohalla Clinics allegedly ordered and performed lakhs of “fake” radiological and pathology tests on patients who never existed. The claimed fraud amounts to several hundred crores of rupees. Officials said “grave” fraudulent activities were common in the lab testing performed on patients who visited Mohalla Clinics and government hospitals in Delhi, with payments sent to private labs. In 11,657 cases, the section designated for mobile numbers contained only the digit “0”; in 8,251 cases, the space was left blank; in 3,092 cases, the mobile number of the patient was entered as 9999999999; in 400 cases, the mobile number started with 1,2,3,4, or 5; and in approximately a thousand cases, the same number was used more than 15 times, Indian Express reported, citing an inquiry by the vigilance department. These are some of the techniques allegedly used at seven mohalla clinics in Delhi to obtain lakhs of tests performed on fictitious patients, with payments made to private diagnostic companies for these services, the report added. “It is indicative of a scam running in hundreds of crores (of rupees). Saxena had issued these directions while clearing a file about the extension of lab testing services to private parties for patients visiting the Mohalla Clinics and Delhi government hospitals in December 2022,” an official said, according to PTI. Delhi LG calls for CBI probe Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena requested last month that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) look into the alleged supply of pharmaceuticals to the city government-run hospitals that “failed quality standard tests” and had the “potential of endangering lives.” “I am further directed to state that any action for supplying such kind of ‘Not of Standard Quality’ drugs should not be confined to the Central Procurement Agency (CPA) and there is a need to investigate the entire supply chain — the role of the suppliers who procured from manufacturers and provided supply to the end users, that is, hospitals (patients). Besides, there is a need to lift the corporate veil to understand the gravity and motives of supplying ‘Not of Standard Quality’ drugs,” read the communication of the Directorate of Vigilance to the Union ministry, according to News18. According to officials, the medications that were discovered to be of “sub-standard quality” included Cephalexin, a vital antibiotic used to treat lung and urinary tract infections. They also contained the anti-epilepsy and anti-anxiety psychiatric drug Levetiracetam, the anti-hypertensive medication Amlodepin, and a steroid called Dexamethasone for treating potentially fatal inflammation of the lungs, joints, and overall swelling, as per the report. 12 reports were pending and three of the 43 drug samples that were delivered to government laboratories failed the test, according to the vigilance department report that was filed to the LG. “In this context, it is not out of place to mention that the matter of ‘Mohalla Clinics’ was already entrusted to the CBI and a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) was also registered. It needs to be investigated whether the same drugs that have been procured by the Central Procurement Agency (CPA) are also being distributed to the patients through ”Mohalla Clinics” or not,” the communication read. What is AAP saying? The AAP defended its welfare programme and called for the resignation of the Delhi Health Secretary due to a number of problems. AAP leader and Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said at a press conference that his government has removed several physicians and workers from Mohalla Clinics due to misconduct last year. It argued that the senior health department officials are chosen by the Centre and are in charge of keeping an eye out for anomalies in diagnostic labs. “The Mohalla Clinic is an individual entity and not a massive set-up. There were complaints about some doctors either entering late or leaving early. The attendance system in mohalla clinics were good. A video was shot of the staff entering and exiting, and one had to blink his/her eyes into the camera to register attendance. However, some mischievous doctors found a way around it. They got their videos recorded, and investigated the matter. After this 26 people were fired,” Bharadwaj elaborated. He went on to say that since the Arvind Kejriwal-led administration has not yet selected the staff, the Directorate General of Health Services and the health secretary should perform random inspections. “Whether it is a Mohalla clinic or a medicine store when someone gives a wrong phone number, this is the job of officials to check,” he added. “No one agrees to our recommendation. We have already sent so many suggestions. We have already complained against them; and recommended action against them in writing, in court. Yet no action is taken.” The Delhi government further underscored the need to remove the offending personnel from their positions. BJP’s criticism As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacked the Arvind Kejriwal-led government, the matter rekindled Delhi’s already tense political scene. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said, “The so-called ‘Mohalla Clinics’ provided the facility for pathological testing. Based on the vigilance reports and departmental findings, those (pathological) tests are also now under the scanner of the probe… It is being investigated that in one day, the clinics saw a maximum number of 533 patients. The time for the clinics is 9 am to 1 pm. Now imagine, if they checked 533 patients within 240 minutes, then it means they saw a patient for just half a minute.” “Even after the introduction of Amrit Kaal, instead of making a super-specialty institute or lab, the National Capital is still following the old mohalla clinic system.” “The Delhi government had made arrangements for pathological tests at the so-called Mohalla Clinics. However, the clinics have come under a cloud of suspicion after the vigilance department reports and department findings came out,” he said.

Fake Test, Fake Medicines & Deaths bcoz of wrong Prescriptions.#MohallaClinics run by @ArvindKejriwal's govt. pic.twitter.com/4B2SXGWoyg

— RP Singh National Spokesperson BJP (@rpsinghkhalsa) January 4, 2024

BJP spokesperson RP Singh reminded Delhi residents of the 2021 incident when three children ‘died due to cough syrup prescribed at mohalla clinic’. “Fake Test, Fake Medicines & Deaths bcoz of wrong Prescriptions (sic),” he posted on X. With inputs from agencies