As a visitor to Bangalore every year, I undertake a complete health check on my trips to the city. Recently, in January, I undertook an ‘Executive Full Body Health Checkup 3’. The report of the tests were emailed to me within 24 hours.
On checking the details of the report provided, one thing glaringly stood out which shocked me. It related to my TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) value which was shown as 23.46, the reference range being 0.3 - 5.5. For someone who has never had thyroid issues in the past and has never been on thyroid medication ever, this was a startling revelation. We expect that these lab reports will be correct; hence, seeing this high value got me worried and panicky. I spoke to a few people close to me about this and asked them if this could be an anomaly. The advice given to me was to redo the T3, T4 and TSH tests with a different lab. So, eighteen days after my first test, I retook the lab test for my complete thyroid profile. The result provided to me was that my TSH value was 3.66 which was well within the reference range. I was thoroughly disappointed and agitated to have been put through a great deal of stress over the test results of my first one.
To get clarity from Thyrocare, I emailed them the details and also provided them the results of the second lab test. My request was assigned to a person named Manmeet Kaur Saini. I was advised then that they would get back to me within 48 hours. I waited for a week as I had not heard back from Thyrocare and embarked on sending them a second email which was quite stern. A couple of days later, I got a call from one Dr Sumaiya. I was in Mumbai at that time. Dr Sumaiya very confidently asserted that they had rechecked the results of the TSH test and verified it again with the collection centre too. She stood firm on the fact that the TSH value on the day the blood sample was tested (January 05) was actually 23.46. When questioned how it was possible for the value to drop from 23.46 to 3.66 in eighteen days, Dr Sumaiya had no answer. My understanding is that the TSH value must have been 3.46, which was wrongly recorded as 23.46. It is appalling that such a big organisation lacks professionalism and stoops to lies to uphold their wrong results. Instead of accepting their mistake and apologising for the inconvenience caused, they just stood firm on the results provided in the first instance. This makes me question the veracity of the other tests conducted too. How can someone who has never encountered thyroid issues, have a result value of 23.46 which magically drops down to 3.66 a fortnight later? If thyroid values could drop so quickly in such a short span of time, it must be great news for those suffering with it for years!
My advice to the larger population is to beware of such unreliable organisations, especially when it boils down to the health and wellness of your loved ones. I’d suggest you to stay away from Thyrocare by miles. Not only are they unreliable and unprofessional, they also lie through the skin of their teeth.