Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Oct 28: Relatives of a woman who died after being admitted into the government Wenlock Hospital here for treatment, held the doctors of the hospital squarely responsible for her death. They alleged that negligence of the doctors in properly attending the patient had caused her demise.

Vanita (36) from Talapady, who was suffering from symptoms like fever, phlegm, weakness and breathing problems, was admitted into the hospital on Monday. They said that Vanita was admitted into Wenlock Hospital as per the recommendation of the private doctor who was attending her, for advanced treatment and blood tests. They said that the patient was not properly taken care of by the doctors, as a number of doctors were on leave on account of Deepavali. They claimed that no medicines were given to the patient at the hospital, and only glucose was administered. They stressed that she died at 1 pm on Thursday because of non-treatment.

The medical officer of the hospital however, denied these charges. He clarified that Vanita had died because of high fever and tuberculosis, and that the hospital had provided every treatment it could, to the patient.

Contradicting this claim, Premchand, relative of Vanita, said that Vanita was treated at the general ward. He felt that the doctors should have moved Vanita to intensive care unit ICU), if her condition had aggravated. He said that the patient became the victim of utter neglect, even after contacting MLA, Yogish Bhat, who called up the doctors and asked them to treat Vanita well. He said that Vanita lost her life because she was poor.

The medical officer of the hospital said that Vanita was provided with all the treatments that were on par with the intensive care unit, and that she was shifted to the hospital by her relatives after treating her for 15 days in a private hospital. Confessing that there was some delay in testing the blood of the patient because of intervening holidays, he said that seriousness of the situation had been brought to the notice of Vanita’s relatives in advance, and that they were given the choice of shifting the patient to another hospital if they wanted to. “Vanita hailed from a below poverty line family, and as such, she was given treatment on priority as per the custom of the hospital,” he clarified.

It is learnt that the ICU of the hospital can accommodate only seven patients, and this has been causing problems frequently in this 700-bed hospital.

Dayanand, husband of Vanita, is a rickshaw driver by profession. Vanita is survived by husband and two sons.