Tossed between hospitals, Lko man died for lack of ventilator support
According to the son of the deceased, in their search for an available ventilator machine, the patient passed away in the wee hours of Monday, at Lari Cardiology Centre.
Picture this: you are aware of your existing heart condition and feel a sudden, shooting/crushing pain in your chest. Fearing the worst, you ride your motorcycle to the government facility that treated you earlier, only to be met by a heartless, unsympathetic junior doctor, incapable of gauging the fear and panic you and your family members are experiencing.
After preliminary treatment, you are referred elsewhere, for the facilities you need are in short supply…time is running out. The case is the same at the second facility, which gives you some other options far across town…time is racing.
And that is how 60-year-old Abrar Khan, a heart patient, met his end: shuttling between hospitals for nearly 90 minutes. The search for a ventilator machine - a life-saver must - at two facilities of King George’s Medical University, came to nought because they were all occupied.
There are seven ventilator machines at Lari Cardiology Centre and another 70 - 74 machines at the Trauma Centre.
He succumbed after failing to get treatment even though he had rushed to Lari Cardiology Centre, riding his motorcycle from his house nearly eight kilometres away.
How do two major govt facilities in the state capital, have all ventilator machines occupied, and are unable to save a life?
Hindustan Times had reported the incident in its edition dated Nov 26, 2024. In a deep-dive of reasons and causes behind the tragedy, it seems a systemic failure is to be blamed for the loss that Abrar Khan’s family is now experiencing.
The patient had been transferred from Lari Cardiology Centre, to the Trauma Centre (King George’s Medical University) and back to Lari, within a span of one and a half hours. According to the son of the deceased, in their search for an available ventilator machine, the patient passed away in the wee hours of Monday, at Lari Cardiology Centre.
The deceased was a resident of Dubagga, and worked at a chikankari manufacturing unit in the area. On November 24, on feeling a sharp pain in his chest, Khan headed to Lari Cardiology Centre where he had earlier undergone surgery in 2018. He rode his two-wheeler accompanied by his younger son, and after an initial check up, was admitted to the emergency ward there, where his older son, Saif Khan, joined him with other family members.
Saif said that the doctors and staff at the hospital were uncooperative and dismissive in their treatment of his father. He further said that when he started shooting a video of the doctors neglecting his father, he was berated and removed from the ward.
“After administering a few prescribed injections, my father’s condition improved for some time, but then he began coughing blood. The doctors in the emergency ward were doing nothing to help, and so I began shooting a video. This angered the staff, and a woman ward attendant pushed me out of the ward,” he said.
Hindustan Times tried approaching the head of the department, Lari Cardiology Centre, Dr Sudhanshu Dwivedi, over call and message and till the time of going to press, no response had been received.
However, a senior doctor who preferred anonymity said, “I believe the unfortunate death happened due to a miscommunication or a verbal altercation that began between the resident doctors on duty, and the patient’s attendants.”
Trauma Centre spokesperson Dr Prem Raj Singh said, “The patient had come in with an oxygen cylinder around 12:30 AM, but there were no ventilator beds available at the time, and they returned to Lari Hospital.” The facility has 70-74 ventilator machines, all of which are occupied at the time, with a waiting list of 10 to 15 patients.
Chief medical superintendent Sandeep Tiwari said, “We will take cognisance of this case. I was not aware of it at the moment it happened as it was in the middle of the night. We will look into when the patient came and which doctors handled him.”
Saif Khan has said that a letter has been written to the district magistrate, asking for an investigation into the matter - why his father was tossed between departments without being given the adequate medical care, and why a government medical facility is under-equipped for emergency cases such as these.
KGMU vice-chancellor Dr Soniya Nityanand has pointed out that the patient already had a pre-existing heart condition and never cared for follow-up treatment after surgery, “yet everybody is quick to blame the hospital. The patient had a history of heart disease, and even had an angioplasty in 2018. I had requested a report from the HoD which I examined yesterday, and I have also set up an internal committee which will look into the matter.”
The committee created on Tuesday is scheduled to hand in its report in three days’ time.
The chief medical officer has also taken cognisance of the matter and will be following the KGMU investigation closely.
“We have given the authorities time of 10 days, after which we will begin a protest outside the hospital gates,” Saif promised.
Dr Nityanand explained, “Ventilator beds are not available in abundance anywhere, and are used in emergency cases and very serious respiratory issues. A cardiology centre is not supposed to be equipped with so many ventilator beds. As far as I have been informed, the doctors advised that they go to SGPGIMS or RMLIMS for continued medical care, and at the last moment the patient refused.”