The Telangana government on Thursday told the State High Court that it has started the process to initiate action against negligent doctors and medical staff complicit in the untimely death of a pregnant woman and her baby in April. It has directed the medical department to initiate action against such doctors and medical staffers and issued orders for an enquiry against them on the allegation of dereliction of duties, it told the HC.
A pregnant woman from Leeja mandal of Jogulamba Gadwal district and her baby had died due to delay in medical attention. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy dealing with two taken up PIL cases based on letters addressed to the Chief Justice. The first PIL, filed by advocate K Kishore Kumar, sought directions to the authorities to issue clear instructions to all hospitals in the State ensuring to treat patients based on medical emergencies.
It urged the authorities not to stick to bureaucratic norms that would endanger the lives of suffering patients and recurrence of tragic incidents. The second PIL by advocate Sreenitha Pujari sought access to essential health services to pregnant women and for neonatal care during this lockdown. Both advocates had sought stringent action against all those doctors who have denied medical aid to the deceased pregnant woman. On an earlier occasion, the government told the HC that it has identified six doctors who are responsible for the woman’s death and disciplinary action was being taken against them.
Further, steps have been taken to avert recurrence of such incidents, it added. On Thursday, the State further said that to mitigate the sufferings of the pregnant women, about 69 ambulances have been stationed on the national highways and 17 more have been stationed on State highways. Citizens have been informed of the ambulances’ locations and their contact numbers, the State added.
After perusing the contents of the counter affidavit, the bench expressed its satisfaction with the action taken by the State in dealing with the issue. The State has indeed issued a many circulars and held meetings across the State and issued necessary directions to various hospitals for extending medical aid to pregnant women. However, the Court told the government that it up to the former if those hospitals and doctors who had refused admission to deceased should be dealt with by registering criminal cases. The HC then closed the PILs.