Noida dist hospital doctor warned after she refuses to see patient who later died

The relatives of the deceased alleged that a woman doctor at the hospital refused to see him when he was brought there in the morning simply because “he was a male”

Relatives of a 35-year-old man have alleged that he died after being denied treatment at the District Hospital in Sector 30, Noida, on Thursday afternoon. The relatives of the patient alleged negligence on the part of doctors at the hospital and created a ruckus, prompting the district chief medical officer to issue a warning to one of the doctors who refused to attend to the patient when he was brought to the out-patient department.

Relatives of the deceased man outside the Noida district hospital on Thursday afternoon. (Sourced)

The deceased man was identified as Prakash Singh, a resident of Delhi’s Aali village near Badarpur, who used to work as a cab driver. His relatives alleged that a woman doctor at the hospital refused to see him when he was brought there in the morning simply because “he was a male”.

His brother Suresh Singh said Prakash was brought to the hospital at 5am on Thursday. “He was suffering from fever, shortness of breath and had not been able to pass urine for the past several days. When we went to the OPD doctor at 8am, she refused to see my brother saying she does not attend to male patients,” he said.

The relatives raised the issue with the hospital management who then asked Prakash to go to another doctor. “That doctor asked us to get an ultrasound done, after which Prakash was diagnosed with fatty liver. On the complaint that he could not pass urine, a catheter was put in, but even after that, my brother continued to be in a lot of pain,” Suresh said.

The relatives said the doctors later referred Prakash to another hospital but he died while they were waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Soon after his death, around 2pm Thursday, angry relatives created a ruckus at the hospital, alleging negligence.

“Prakash has three young children and he was the sole earning member of the family. Prakash’s wife fell unconscious on hearing about his death but still none of the hospital staff attended to us,” alleged Prakash’s sister Pravati.

Gautam Budh Nagar CMO Dr Sunil Kumar Sharma said he has taken cognizance of the matter. “We investigated the issue thoroughly and found that six doctors attended to the patient on Thursday. This includes three emergency medical officers and three OPD doctors, one of whom refused to see him. Our investigation has found that there was no negligence on part of the hospital as other doctors attended to the patient. Still, a warning has been issued to the doctor who refused to see the patient in the OPD,” said Sharma.

He added that officials from the district health department spoke to the relatives of the patient and consoled them. “The patient was sick since the past two days and was being treated at a government hospital in Delhi. His death was due to health complications. The family has taken the body from the hospital,” said the CMO.