Moradabad’s pvt hosp accused of putting dead patient on ventilator to ‘extort money’ from family; probe ordered

Bareilly: An attendant of a dengue patient has alleged that the authorities of a private hospital in Moradabad put the ailing man on a ventilator “though he was dead in a bid to extort money" from the family.

In the video, which has gone viral, the man is heard purportedly saying that the family members were told that their patient was alive and put on a ventilator. However, one of them managed to get into the hospital ICU and found that the patient was lying dead with the machines shut.

The clip also shows vacant chairs, indicating that no hospital staff was present in the area.

Moradabad health department officials said the purported charges levelled in the video shall be probed.

Authorities of Moradabad’s Bright Star Hospital have denied the allegations. Mukesh Kumar, chief operating officer (COO) of the private hospital, said, “Two critical patients, who were suffering from dengue, were admitted in the hospital with no pulse rate and no blood pressure. They were already critical and in such cases, survival is almost impossible. Thus, they succumbed to illness. We have been admitting around five to six critical dengue patients in the hospital every day.”

The hospital was in the news a few months ago when 15 Covid patients had died within 24 hours, allegedly after the facility ran out of oxygen.

Earlier on Tuesday, a ruckus was created at the hospital by the relatives of three dengue patients -- Indrapal (47) of Sambhal, Mini (22) of Katghar, Moradabad, and Usman (60) of Mundha Pandey -- who died within an hour. Their families had accused the hospital of medical negligence.

At that time, the hospital authorities claimed that they were “critical”. A new twist was added to the issue when the video went viral on Thursday.

Taking cognizance of the purported video, Dr M C Garg, chief medical officer (CMO), Moradabad, said, “The deputy CMO has been directed to take up an inquiry into the matter and provide an audit of the deaths.”