Refusal on the part of private hospitals in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram to admit an accident victim resulted in his tragic death, almost seven hours after the accident.
Police have registered the incident as a serious case of medical negligence and are charging a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against three private hospitals in Kollam and two hospitals in Thiruvananthapuram.
The victim Murugan (30), a native of Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu, makes a living by milking cows in Kollam and resides at Kottiyam on the outskirts of the city. On Sunday evening, Murugan, who was travelling on a motorcycle with a friend was involved in a collision with a scooter on the National Highway 66. He sustained serious head injuries.
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Soon, the police arrived and took him to the Kottiyam hospital of the Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS). The hospital authorities there told the police that no ventilators were vacant.
They then contacted the Medicity (Medical College) Hospital and Meditrina Hospital in Kollam and got the response that ventilators were vacant at both hospitals. The police engaged an ambulance with a driver named Raju.
When the victim was taken to the Medicity Hospital, the authorities informed Raju that there was no ventilator vacancy, after enquiring about Murugan's financial background. He then took the victim to the nearby Meditrina Hospital, but they too denied treatment to the victim.
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Seeing that the victim was still alive, Raju rushed him to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, which was 72 km away but he was informed that a ventilator would be available only after two hours.
Murugan was then rushed to the SUT Hospital and the KIMS Hospitals at Thiruvananthapuram, but there too he was denied admission. The ambulance driver then rushed him to the Azeezia Medical College Hospital at Pooyapally in Kollam district, 70 km away.
There too the victim was denied admission for some reason. Then Raju brought the victim to the Kollam Government District Hospital, where Murugan was declared dead-on-arrival.
The accident is believed to have occurred at 11 p.m. on Sunday and the victim passed away at 6 a.m. the next day.