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Orissa HC orders probe into allegations mismanagement in Covid hospitals
A division bench of Orissa High Court has ordered a former district judge to examine the allegations.
Orissa High Court has ordered a probe by a retired district judge into alleged negligence or lack of timely medical treatment of patients at a Covid hospital in western Odisha district of Sambalpur during the second wave of Covid, HT has learnt.
A division bench of Orissa High Court, comprising Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Savitri Ratho, has ordered former district judge ABS Naidu to examine the allegations of lack of proper or timely treatment at the Sambalpur’s Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, a government medical college cum hospital during Covid-19 pandemic.
Former district judge ABS Naidu will examine the allegations of lack of proper or timely treatment at the Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Petitioner Gyanadutta Chouhan of Bargarh district sent an e-mail to the Orissa HC on May 23 highlighting the lack of proper medical facilities at VIMSAR. He filed nine affidavits of persons whose close relatives reportedly suffered on account of lack of proper or timely treatment at the hospital. “More people died due to lack of treatment, ICUs and oxygen than Covid-19. Patients suffered due to carelessness of the government,” Chouhan alleged.
The HC bench underlined that the issues flagged in the letter of the petitioner, as well as the affidavits of the nine deponents, raise serious questions involving the fundamental right to health which is an inherent part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The HC, in its order, said the PIL raises serious questions involving the fundamental right to health, which is an inherent part of right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.
“VIMSAR is one of the premier medical institutions of the state catering to the medical needs of the population of western Odisha. It has to function in the manner befitting its status of providing the highest standard of care and treatment to everyone for that purpose. While during Covid-19 times all resources were indeed stretched and many medical personnel and nursing staff went beyond the call of duty to render tireless service, it is entirely possible that there were lapses. Whether this was for the reasons beyond the control of the doctors, nurses and staff of VIMSAR and whether it was avoidable, can properly be established only in a detailed enquiry,” the HC said in its order.
The HC asked the inquiry officer to conclude the probe within three months and submit a report by November 1.
The court said the incidental expenses of the inquiry officer in conducting the enquiry and his functioning shall be borne by the government of Odisha as per the bills raised on an actual basis without any delay.
Last month, another PIL was filed in the Orissa High Court over alleged gross mismanagement and negligence in the treatment of patients in a Covid hospital of Baripada town.
Advocate Bibhuti Bhusan Choudhury filed the PIL highlighting a disturbing incident at a Covid hospital in Baripada where patients, including a woman, were seen lying naked on the floor of a washroom. Besides, Choudhury also drew the attention of the court regarding the cremation of bodies of multiple Covid-19 victims in a single pyre at a cremation ground in Bolangir district.
Choudhury urged the HC for a court-monitored probe into these incidents and demanded action against the hospital authorities and other officials responsible for such incidents.
