WARANGAL: A video showing an elderly man carrying his disabled wife on his back at MGM Hospital here went viral on Friday. Even as the netizens started criticising the hospital administration for being apathetic towards them, Dr Chandrasekhar, superintendent of MGM, refuted the allegation of negligence and claimed that it was an attempt to tarnish the image of the hospital which has been treating anywhere between 2,500 to 3,000 patients every day.
Maloth Laxmi, a resident of Muthyalampadu village in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district had part of her left leg amputated on November 10, 2022 due to lack of blood circulation in it. She was asked to come to the hospital once in a fortnight or a month to get her leg dressed.
According to the superintendent, on Friday, Laxmi, along with her husband Lacchulu, had come to the hospital for dressing. After the treatment, the patient care personnel carried Laxmi in a wheelchair and left her under a tree outside the casualty, and went back to the emergency ward. Meanwhile, Lacchulu went to the Calipers Centre in the hospital to enquire about the availability of prosthetic legs, leaving his wife where she had been left under the tree by the hospital staff.
Sometime during the entire episode, a video was recorded by someone, showing Lacchulu carrying his wife on his back. In another video, Lacchulu could be seen saying that it was too hot and he had to carry his wife from tree to tree, and that the hospital staff had asked them to come back on Saturday, as the healthcare staff concerned were not available.
The hospital administration clarified that Lacchulu mistook the healthcare staff at the Calipers Centre for doctors, and stated that they asked the couple to return the next day.Dr Chandrasekhar has directed the RMO to admit Laxmi in the hospital on Friday, and to make arrangements for attaching the prosthetic leg to her on Saturday. He has requested the media not to spread false information on the hospital, which could drive the poor patients to go to private hospitals for treatment, which could put financial burden on them.