A three-member committee set up by the Haryana government has found that gross negligence on the part of Fortis Hospital in Gurugram caused the death of a seven-year-old girl suffering from dengue, the Hindustan Times reported. Adya Singh was admitted to the hospital on August 31. She spent nearly 15 days on ventilator support.
“There were many irregularities, unethical practices and the protocol for diagnosis and medical duties was not followed,” Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij (pictured above) told the media on Wednesday. “In simple words, it was not a death, it was a murder.”
A First Information Report will be registered against the hospital administration. Vij added that a notice had been issued to also cancel the licence of its blood bank, The Hindu reported. The Haryana Urban Development Authority would also be asked to see if the hospital’s land lease can be cancelled, the minister added.
The hospital had earlier been accused of overcharging the girl’s family and the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority had served it a show-cause notice. The hospital reportedly charged her family for more than 600 syringes that were used on her. “They pumped a seven-year-old with an average of 40 syringes a day,” a family friend had said.
Jayant Singh, Adya’s father, had said that the doctors initially gave her an intravenous anti-bacterial drug called Meropenem, which costs around Rs 500 per vial. However, later they opted for a more expensive version of the same drug, which cost Rs 3,100, he said.
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