Puri: A written complaint has been filed with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) with regard to the alleged diversion of an appendicitis patient from the surgery ward of Puri district headquarters hospital (DHH) to a private hospital here July 18.
In his complaint, human rights activist Jayanta Dash has urged the rights body to direct the Chief Secretary of Odisha to depute a special team from the Health and Family Welfare department to probe the incident.
The complainant has also urged the NHRC to direct the Chief Secretary to provide Rs 3 lakh compensation to the patient concerned. The compensation amount must be collected from the doctor, who had diverted the patient from the DHH to the private hospital, and the Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO), the complainant told the NHRC.
As per the allegation, Sumitra Mohanty, the wife of Guruprasad Mohanty of Matiapada in the city here, was admitted to the surgery ward of the DHH with appendicitis July 18. Soon a few middlemen of private nursing homes reached the hospital and advised Guruprasad to consult a particular doctor of the DHH.
The doctor concerned examined Sumitra and advised her to undergo an operation to remove her appendix. The doctor allegedly asked Guruprasad to admit Sumitra to a private hospital near Srigundicha temple. He also offered concession on charges for Sumitra’s treatment at the private hospital.
The doctor allegedly told Guruprasad that the DHH did not have proper infrastructure to treat appendicitis. “Several appendicitis patients are in the queue to get treatment at the DHH. You have to wait for long,” the doctor reportedly told the Mohanty couple.
However, the authorities of the private hospital sought Rs 18,000 to operate upon Sumitra. Expressing his inability to arrange for the money, Guruprasad admitted his wife to another private hospital here, sources said.
A video of the alleged incident went viral on social media. Subsequently, Dash tweeted the incident to the Chief Minister and Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das and sought stern action against the doctor and the CDMO.
Taking the issue seriously, the Health department had ordered a departmental probe into the incident.
