A 28-year-old man, who was suffering from HIV/AIDS, died owing to alleged lack of treatment and neglect by doctors in the district hospital here on Tuesday.
What’s worse, it is alleged that the doctors locked the patient, Deepak of Surpur town, in a room as he was breathing his last and left him in an unclean condition. Mallayya Polampalli, a social worker, held the doctors’ negligence responsible for the death, saying they failed to provide better treatment.
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However, denying the allegations, Amresh Koiluru, District Health Officer, and Bhagavantha Anwar, District Surgeon of the hospital, claimed that the patient was admitted in a “very critical stage” by an unknown person on May 11 and they had done all they could to save him. However, he ultimately succumbed.
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“Although he was given the required treatment, he died owing to severity of the disease,” Dr. Anwar said.
He, however, admitted that the room might have been locked from outside for a day, when the patient had uncontrolled diarrhoea. This was done for the “safety of the other patients” as the hospital has no separate ward for such patients, he said.
Taking note of the allegations, Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Shalini Rajneesh directed the district nodal officer to visit the hospital and inquire into the issue.
Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society Project Director Shanta L. Hulimani said the nodal officer had been asked to submit a report on the issue at the earliest.
“We have learnt that although the patient was diagnosed for the disease in February, he never turned up for follow-up treatment. He was brought to the hospital last week only after his condition worsened,” she said.
According to the brother of the deceased, who claimed the body, said Deepak was alone and was abandoned by his wife and minor son.
The 28-year-old man was locked up and left to die in Yadgir hospital, says social worker