Fortis Healthcare, a hospital chain operator, may lose its license as Haryana government fin­ds Gurugram unit guilty of 7-year-old dengue patients' death.

The family of deceased patient could not afford the hospital charges and had to shift her to another hospital. Health minister Anil Vij on Wednesdaysaid the inquiry conducted by the health department fo­u­nd serious irregularities, unethical pra­ctices and lapses in the diagnostic protocols on the part of the hospital in this case.

“We are going to lodge an FIR against Fortis for criminal negligence. We will also write to the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to cancel their license. Moreover, we have also given a notice for cancellation of blood bank in that hospital," Vij said.

The Haryana governm­ent probe claims Fortis charged Rs 12,800 per un­it of random donor plat­e­lets (RDP) against Rs 400 per unit RDP stipulated by the state in its guidelines.

Earlier, JP Nadda, Uni­on health minister, sought for a report from Gurugr­am’s ba­sed hospital after it allegedly charged the family of a 7-year-old dengue pati­ent, who later died, almost Rs 1.6 million for 15 days in the ICU. Adya developed very high fe­ver on August 27. Her family rus­hed her to Rockland Hospital in Dwarka two days la­ter when the fever did not abate.

Tests confirmed she was suffering from deng­ue. But her condition wor­se­ned and Rockland suggested Singh take her to a bigger hospital. The family took her to Fortis Hospital in Gurgaon on August 31. Initially, she was given intravenous fluids and supportive treatment as there was a progressive fall in platelet count. But wh­en Adya’s condition did not improve, she was put on mechanical ventilation.

Fearing the governme­nt's actions against hospital chain operators, inves­tors are likely to queued up on the counter to liquidate their portfolio.

At close Fortis Healthcare slipped 3.50% to Rs 144.75 on the National Stock Exchange.

-- TickerNews Service