Dengue death: Haryana Health dept files FIR against Gurgaon Fortis Hospital

Health department raid on Fortis hospital, in Gurgaon, India. (Express Photo/Manoj Kumar)

The Haryana Health Department filed an FIR against Fortis Hospital in Gurgaon after a 7-year-old girl died in the hospital allegedly due to medical negligence, Health Minister Anil Vij said on Sunday. The case came to light after it was reported that the bill for Adya Singh’s 15-day treatment had shot up to Rs 15 lakh before she died of dengue.

Confirming this, Ravinder Kumar, PRO of Gurgaon Police, said, “A case has been registered regarding the matter at the Sushant Lok police station, under Section 304 (ii) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The matter is under investigation.”

Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij confirmed the same through his social media account. “FIR No. 639 Registered against #FortisHospital Gurugram at Sushant Lok Gurugram Police Station u/s 304 Part 2 by Health Department Haryana,” he wrote on Twitter.

Three months after the girl’s death, the deceased’s father too filed a complaint against the hospital on Saturday. In his complaint, Jayant Singh held the hospital responsible for “culpable homicide”, claiming that the establishment was “criminally negligent in the course of her treatment”, and for “forgery, cheating and dishonest inducement of monies”. He accused 18 people including the chairperson, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Executive Vice-Chairman, Fortis Healthcare, and nine doctors. An FIR, however, is yet to be registered on the basis of his complaint, with police saying they will first have to conduct some “preliminary investigations”.

The Health Minister said his department had also written to the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) to cancel the lease of land to Fortis due to alleged violations of terms and conditions of the agreement. “The land was given by HUDA to Fortis hospital in Gurgaon in 2004 under certain terms and conditions, which included conditions like reserving 20 per cent of beds for the poor, but they are not providing these beds. Therefore, we have written to HUDA to cancel their lease as they have violated the terms and conditions of the MoU,” Vij was quoted as saying by PTI on Saturday.

The move came after a state government panel found “several irregularities”, including protocols not being followed in a case related to the death of a 7-year-old girl while probing allegations of overcharging against the private medical institute. Denying medical negligence, the hospital had earlier refuted the charges claiming the patient’s family was duly informed about the bill on a daily basis.

The news comes close on the heels of Delhi government’s decision to cancel the registration of Max Super Specialty Hospital in Shalimar Bagh after it was found that of the two twin declared dead by them, one had been alive.

(With inputs from Sakshi Dayal)