Balasore: A girl who was admitted to the district headquarters hospital here after she complained of ear pain died Tuesday, with distraught family members accusing
hospital authorities of medical negligence. The victim was identified as 21-year-old Bhagyashree Pati, a resident of Raipur village under Silang police limits.
Tension flared on the hospital premises soon after hospital authorities confirmed Bhagyashree’s death. “My daughter complained of stomach pain and ear ache and I first admitted her to Langaleswar PHC and from there we shifted her to Basta CHC. As her condition did not improve, she was shifted to Balasore DHH Monday at 12:30 pm,” her father Sadananda said.
“When we reached the DHH, she was in severe pain. But the on-duty doctor Gyanaranjan Behera did not attend to my daughter immediately. Some nurses and even some patients went and requested him to attend to my daughter but the doctor ignored their pleas,” Sadananda claimed.
The girl died after a long ordeal, at 6:20 pm Tuesday. Her death triggered tension on the hospital premises. Town police IIC Dillip Kumar Sahu and additional district medical officer Shashank Shekhar Choudhry rushed to the spot and tried to placate the angry crowd. The anger ebbed after the SDMO assured them that he would initiate departmental action against the doctor if he was found to have been negligent.
Later, Sadananda lodged a police complaint against the doctor. The mood at the hospital turned sombre, as other patients and attendants tried to console the grieving family.
“I only wish no other daughter is subjected to such ill-treatment,” an inconsolable Sadananda said. Police registered a case against the doctor. Despite the heartbreak, the girl’s father announced that he wished to donate his daughter’s eyes. As all formalities were in place at the hospital, authorities immediately took the girl’s body to the nearby Lions’ Hospital where her corneas were salvaged by doctors.
Locals and patients alleged that the district administration has taken no action against the
particular doctor despite several allegations of negligence being levelled against him in the past. PNN
