Mangalore: Chaos at Hospital - Management Blames Sri Rama Sene
Daijiworld Media Nework - Mangalore
Mangalore, Sep 30: On Saturday September 24 city's Mangala Hospital was in the news for allegedly charging exorbitant fee from a deceased patient's party and refusing to hand over the body till the payment was made. It was also alleged that the doctors had deliberately hid the news of the patient's death from the family.
Aitha Gowda (59) was admitted to the hospital on September 11 and diagnosed with rat fever and jaundice. After his family came to know of his death and the consequent chaos that followed, a group of people protested and Kadri police had to intervene to reach a compromise on the issue of payment.
File Photo
The media reported extensively on the incident, and as a result the hospital management has come out with a clarification stating, "The people who came to argue and abuse us after the patient expired were from Sri Rama Sena, as they claimed."
In a written statement to Daijiworld, the hospital management questions, "How was it that a few media people came to know about this activity of Sri Rama Sene and were seen in the hospital premises even before their activists reached the hospital? Is it that hospitals have now become equal to pubs for them to come and abuse us?"
The management also questions, "What qualifications have they (Sri Rama Sene) to decide on the negligence of doctors in treating a critically ill patient who we were trying to bring back from death?"
Criticising the media, the management said, "Before publishing those reports media should at least have the courtesy to speak to the doctors, go through records and give an actual and factual picture."
Achutha (Aitha) Gowda, a resident of Beltangady was admitted to the hospital at 6.45 pm on September 11, with a history of fever with chills and rigors three days back. He later developed vomiting associated with abdomen distention and decreased urine output, and generalised debility. The patient was admitted and investigated at Puttur local hospital and shifted to Mangala for further treatment.
According to Dr Ganapathy, who was supervising the patient, the chances of death in established case of Leptospirosis with multi-organ failure are to the extent of 60-70%, which was explained to the patent's family members, who were given the option of treating him in any other hospital or taking him to a government hospital in case of shortage of funds.
At least seven doctors attended the patient during the treatment period. As many as 43 bottles of blood were transfused, together with seven haemodialyses.
According to the management, the patient was in critical care for 10 days and in intensive care unit for two days.
The management has rubbished the allegations of charging exorbitantly or deliberately keeping the patient in the hospital for monitory benefits.
Complete medical report of the patient and clarifications from the management are in possession of Daijiworld.