Pic courtesy: www.fortishealthcare.com

Gurugram: In yet another incident that hints at the existence of a murky money-making business run by hospitals in the name of modern medical treatment, a seven-year-old girl died of dengue despite her family being billed over a lakh rupees per day for 15 days.

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Dwarka resident Jayant Singh alleges that Gurugram-based Fortis Hospital charged the family the exorbitant fees of Rs 18 lakhs but could not save baby Adya.

Meanwhile, Minister of Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda has promised to look into the matter and tweeted “Please provide me details on hfwminister@gov.in - We will take all necessary action.”

The father explains the turn of events to DNA in this order:

Adya had a high fever on the night of August 27. She was admitted to Rockland Hospital in Dwarka Sector 12 by August 29.

“Much to our horror, she was initially admitted into a room with a Swine Flu patient lying beside her. We protested and got her room changed,” DNA quoted Jayant as saying.

When Adya was detected with Dengue Type IV on August 31, Rockland doctors suggested shifting her to another hospital equipped with a paediatric Intensive Care Unit (ICU) facility.

Moved from Rockland Hospital to Fortis Hospital in Gurugram:

“We shifted her to Fortis Hospital in Gurgaon where she was sedated and immediately put on a ventilator. For three days, she was under sedation. On the fourth and the fifth day, there was no doctor to talk to as it was a weekend. We stood clueless outside the ICU, staring at our sick baby through the glass window, wondering what to do,” said Jayant.

Drug protocol that parents were not apprised of:

Jayant paid a sky-high amount for the branded drugs whose alternatives can be procured for a cheaper price. DNA quoted him as saying: “Also the hospital procured 21 vials of the costlier brand of Meropenem injection, ‘Merocrit,’ by Cipla - per vial costing around Rs 3,100 billed at Rs 65,362 and 9 vials of cheaper brand of the same Meropenem injection, ‘Merolan,’ by Mylan - per vial costing around Rs 500 billed at Rs 4,491. Both the brands were pumped into my baby’s body. Clearly, more vials of the expensive injection, up to seven times the price but said to have the same effect were administered. We were not even asked our preference for drugs which is an essential right of the citizen."

“Also, a blood sugar testing strip costs Rs 13, but we were charged Rs 200 per strip.”

The horror did not end here. The family, hooked outside ICU waiting for their daughter to recover soon, was further shaken when they did not have access to doctors.



No briefings by the doctor, parents watched helplessly:

“While on September 9, 10 and 11 she was undergoing dialysis, another weekend approached and we had no access to a doctor who would counsel us on her condition,” said Jayant.

On September 14, doctors told the family: “They later told me that up to 70-80% of her brain had been damaged and even if she were to recover she would not have normal function,” Jayant stated.

The apathy of the government did not end here! The family was further shocked when a doctor told Jayant’s wife to go for a full body plasma transplant, which would have cost the family around Rs 15-20 lakh. “On one hand, the doctors had declared that my baby’s brain was 70-80% damaged, while on the other hand, they suggested a full body plasma transplantation,” said Jayant.

The Leave-Against -Medical-Advice (LAMA) threat by hospital:

In despair, Jayant told the doctors at Fortis that he wanted to take his baby home. “They told me that I will have to seek Discharge Against Medical Advice (DAMA) and arrange for an ambulance myself. They took her off the ventilator, dialysis and stopped feeding her,” said Jayant.

“At the end of two weeks in Fortis, on the last day, I was waiting to ferry my baby away since 2 pm. They only released her at 11:30 pm. We immediately took her back to Rockland Hospital and after much persuasion, they conducted an ECG, declared Adya dead and issued us a death certificate.”

“Her skin had turned blue and had crumpled. But the doctors kept telling me that this happens. I believe my baby had died while she was all wired up in the Fortis paediatric ICU itself,” said Jayant.

“The nurses came up to me saying that as they were readying my baby to be shifted out of Fortis, her clothes don’t fit her. I asked her to be discharged in the medical gown. They asked me to go to the billing counter and pay for the gown as well.”

Jayant's wife, who was pregnant at the time of Adya's hospitalisation, suffered a miscarriage due to the shock of her daughter's death.

Precious life lost; Parents pondering over filing a lawsuit:

Jayant is pondering over filing a lawsuit against Fortis Hospital for the unimaginable trauma and mental harassment.

In defence, a senior doctor from Fortis hospital stated: “The girl came to us without the medical advice of the previous hospital. As soon as she came to us, we had intubated her. On September 14, she was put off the ventilator as suggested by the family and against the doctor’s advice."

“Clearly, everything is planned. The girl passed away on September 14 and the family is making the false allegations after two months,” the doctor further alleged.

The Hospital's defence:

In a statement, the hospital said: "We empathize with Baby Adya’s family in this difficult hour of sorrow and grief. Seven-year-old Baby Adya was brought in to Fortis Memorial Research Institute (Gurgaon), from another private hospital on the morning of 31st August 2017. She was admitted with Severe Dengue which progressed to Dengue shock syndrome and was managed on IV fluids and supportive treatment as there was a progressive fall in platelet count and hemoconcentration. As her condition deteriorated, she had to be put on ventilatory support within 48 hours. The family was kept informed of the critical condition of the child and the poor prognosis in these situations. As a process, we counselled the family every day on the condition of the child. On 14th September, 17, the family decided to take her away from the hospital against medical advice (LAMA – Leave Against Medical Advice) and she succumbed the same day."

"All standard medical protocols were followed in treating the patient and all clinical guidelines were adhered to."