The Orissa High Court asked the State’s health authorities to take into consideration the reopening of the ‘sleep disorder clinic’ at the Cuttack’s SCB medical college and Hospital (SCBMCH).T
he clinic has been shut for more than five years.
A petition moved by a lawyer Mrinalini Padhi had sought for the reopening of the clinic on the ground that there has been a 20 per cent increase in cases of sleep disorders, particularly among young adults in the aftermath of global pandemic.
The division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Gourishankar Satapathy in a ruling directed the Director Medical Education and Training (DMET) to examine the petitioner’s contention and take a decision on the public health issue.
The ‘sleep disorder clinic’ set up in the physiology department of the SCBMCH started functioning in March 2013.The authorities provided OPD services for people with sleep disorders in November 2015,after there was a high inflow of patients. Nearly 2,600patients with sleep disorders were treated in the outdoor facility by the time it was shutdown on 23 December, 2017.