The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to provide free treatment to a blood cancer patient, whose family could not afford the costly medical care.
The court described the plea filed by the patient’s brother as a “mercy petition”.
A Vacation Bench of Justice I.S. Mehta observed that it was the duty of the court to help the patient and asked AIIMS to provide free treatment to 30-year-old Satish Morya, a resident of Mathura, till the next date of hearing on July 9. The plea said Satish had been undergoing chemotherapy at AIIMS, with his family having spent Rs.3 lakh.
He was diagnosed with blood cancer in March. Petitioner Anand Kumar Morya pointed out that Satish, who ran a photocopy-cum-lamination shop in Mathura, had to close down his business and sell off machines to bear the cost of treatment.
With Satish’s father, a class IV railway employee with a monthly salary of Rs.12,000, being the sole earning member in the family, the additional expenditure of Rs.6 lakh for the treatment was difficult for the family to bear.
Petitioner’s counsel Ashok Agarwal said discontinuation of treatment would lead to reversal of the gains of chemotherapy and may endanger the patient’s life. The family, however, is yet to receive a response from the AIIMS Director.
