Court intervenes to help patient

The Delhi High Court has directed Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital to readmit and treat a poor patient who was refused treatment at two hospitals in the city, reports Rhythma Kaul.

The Delhi High Court has directed Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) hospital to readmit and treat a poor patient who was refused treatment at two hospitals in the city.

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Septicaemia patient Shanti Devi, 25, was refused treatment as she could not afford it. She was admitted at DDU on November 19, 2008, but was discharged and referred to Lok Nayak Hospital on December 11 because DDU needed the bed for other patients. Although readmitted to the hospital after the court’s order, Devi was found sharing a bed with another patient.

Devi had developed severe bronchitis and received treatment only after Hindustan Times reported her plight and prompted an NGO, Human Rights Law Organization, to fight her case in the Delhi High Court.

“She was discharged from DDU in an incredibly sick state. Shanti is illiterate and very poor. She needs all the help possible from the state,” said Rita Hingmang, the lawyer fighting her case.

On November 24, 2008, HT had reported how Shanti Devi, with a dead baby in her womb, was charged Rs 2.5 lakh at Rohini’s Saroj Hospital, where she had been referred to by Sanjay Gandhi Hospital.

Sanjay Gandhi Hospital does not have Intensive Critical Care Support and can refer poor patients to private hospitals.