KOCHI: Another complaint of alleged medical negligence leading to the death of a Covid patient has come up against the authorities of the Government Medical College (MCH) in Ernakulam. The latest in a series of complaints came from the relatives of Basheer -- belonging to Kuttiady in Kozhikode -- who had passed away while under treatment at the MCH.
They alleged that medical negligence led to the death of Basheer who was admitted to the hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in July. With this, four complaints alleging negligence at the MCH have been lodged with the Kalamassery police this month.
Basheer’s relatives said the 70-year-old, who was under treatment at a city hospital for cancer, was shifted to the MCH on July 24.
“The patient had alleged that the hospital staff were not providing adequate medical attention and requested relatives to shift him to another hospital for better treatment on July 25. However, the police informed the relatives of his death the same night,” said Basheer’s son in a complaint to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The petition was later forwarded to the Kalamassery police, which began an inquiry on Monday. “We are now investigating four complaints alleging medical negligence,” said P R Santhosh, Inspector, Kalamassery Police.
The police will record the statements of about 30 MCH staff members, including the superintendent, vice-principal, resident medical officer, nursing officer and nursing superintendents. Earlier, a Kalamassery police team had recorded the statement of Anwar, the brother-in-law of Fort Kochi native C K Harris, who was admitted to the MCH after testing Covid positive.