HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Telangana High Court, on Monday, directed the State government and the Superintendent of Government Chest Hospital near Erragadda to file counter affidavit and a detailed report, on the sudden and untimely death of a person named Ravi Kumar recently. Prima facie, it appears that the 26-year-old died in the said hospital due to medical negligence, the bench opined.
The bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy passed this order through video conferencing in the PIL filed by advocate B Yashpal Goud seeking an inquiry into death of Ravi Kumar. According to the petitioner, Ravi Kumar who had high fever and had tested positive for Covid. He was admitted in the said hospital on June 24 and died there on June 26 as the hospital staff allegedly denied to provide ventilator support and proper treatment.
He sought action against the hospital authorities concerned for the death. During the course of hearing, the bench warned of taking serious action against those responsible if the death was due to callous attitude of medical staff and doctors of the Chest Hospital. It appears that the death was due to medical negligence, but not Covid- 19, the bench said while referring to a video which went viral on social media of the deceased Ravi Kumar.
“We are concerned about the young man who lost his life. This issue was widely aired by various media channels,” the bench said. The bench issued notices to the respondents - State Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary to Medical and Health, and Superintendent of the Chest Hospital to respond on the issue and posted the matter to July 21 for further hearing.