Bengaluru hospitals demand Aadhaar details, patient dies

BENGALURU: Sunday night was one of horror for the family of a 40-year-old Covid-19 patient, as they rushed him from one hospital to another, but in the end, it was too late and he could not be saved.The family of the victim alleged that two hospitals denied the patient treatment without his Aadhaar card details.

The man had tested positive at St John’s Hospital on Friday evening, and was in home quarantine. However, on Sunday night, he complained of breathlessness and his family immediately shifted him to Madhu Nursing Home in Girinagar in an ambulance. The hospital authorities allegedly sought his Aadhaar card details and also informed them that there was a shortage of beds and lack of ICU facility. They wrote a note, referring him to a Covid hospital in RR Nagar.

The family claims that the ambulance driver, instead of taking them to the RR Nagar Hospital, decided to take them to a private hospital on Hosur Road, almost 17km from Girinagar. By then, the patient was already feeling uncomfortable, but when they finally  pulled into the hospital, the doctors there did not treat the patient. Instead, they left him lying on a stretcher for over an hour, and later declared him dead.
The family of the deceased allegedly attempted to beat up the hospital authorities, but were pacified by the doctors. The relatives alleged that there appeared to be a nexus between the ambulance driver and private hospital on Hosur Road, which is why he took the patient there and risked his life.