Discharged ‘forcibly’ from govt hospital, cancer patient suffers without treatment in Agra

AGRA: For the last five days, 42-year-old Indra Khandelwal is running from pillar to post to get treatment for his wife Sakshi Khandelwal who is a third-stage cancer patient. Indra alleged that his wife was forcefully discharged from Sarojini Naidu Medical College (SNMC) on Tuesday after rats nibbled her toe as she lay unattended for four days in the emergency ward. A video showing the bleeding foot of the woman, and her husband’s desperate calls for help had gone viral on Tuesday afternoon.
Since then, the family members have tried several private hospitals but are unable to get treatment. Requests made to the senior officials of the district administration and health department have yielded no results.
Notably, Agra district magistrate Prabhu N Singh had assured this correspondent earlier this week that the woman would be provided treatment. “I have seen the video of the patient and her husband. I am inquiring about it from the SNMC administration. Suitable action will be taken. The patient will be provided required treatment,” the DM had told TOI on Tuesday.
Khandelwal said, “My wife is in a critical condition and urgently needs medical assistance. I have tried all options but failed to get treatment for my wife. I beg the district administration to help us.”
A resident of Lohamandi locality, jeweller Indra Khandelwal’s wife Sakshi was diagnosed with cancer in June 2019. She was getting treatment from a cancer specialist in New Agra area. But, due to lockdown, the hospital was shut. On April 28, when her health deteriorated, the family members tried several private hospitals, but in vain. They took her to SNMC later.
“Her sample was collected for testing of Covid-19. The report came negative. But, even after repeated requests, no doctor came to attend my wife. After four days of admission, staffers just provided oxygen support to my wife when she was having difficulty in breathing,” Khandelwal said.
“In the morning of April 4, when I removed her blanket, I was shocked to see her badly injured foot and blood on the bed. Rats had bitten her toe. I screamed but no one came for help. Even no bandage was provided. I had to leave my wife who was crying in pain to buy an ointment and bandage from outside,” Khandelwal said.
On Tuesday afternoon, Sakshi, in spite of her poor health, was discharged, with her husband alleging that it was done forcibly.
Chief medical officer of Agra district, Mukesh Kumar Vats didn’t respond to the calls made by TOI.
RC Pandey, recently appointed by the state government as officer on special duty in the health department, said, “I am aware of the incident where a patient at SNMC was bitten by a rat. However, I did not know that she was not provided any treatment. I will look into it”.
Agra mayor Naveen Jain said, “It is highly unfortunate that a cancer patient has to suffer for treatment due to negligence of officials. I will ensure that the patient is admitted to hospital and provided suitable medical treatment.”