The hospital has blamed the patient's family members for the lapse. (Representational)
A hospital in Mumbai's Kurla suburb has been accused of releasing a coronavirus patient's body to his family after changing the cause of death, allegedly for a bribe. After the patient died last week, the death certificate listed an "acute myocardial infraction" but there was no mention of COVID-19.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has sent a notice to the hospital, asking it to explain the major lapse. The civic body of Mumbai, in a letter addressed to the director of the New Noor Hospital in Kurla, said according to the findings of a private lab, the patient was a confirmed COVID-19 positive case, but the hospital kept this information under wraps.
The matter came to the notice of the civic body when word spread among locals, NDTV was told by a source.
"The BMC has come to know from credible information that on May 30, (the patient) was admitted with symptoms of COVID-19 in your hospital for necessary treatment. The patient was found confirmed COVID-19 infected, as per the report of Metropolis Healthcare Laboratory, and he later died on June 3, 2020 due to COVID-19 infection in your hospital (sic)," the civic body's notice to the hospital read.
The BMC noted allegations that the hospital had changed the cause of the death with "dishonest intention" and for "wrongful gains".
When NDTV visited the hospital, the authorities refused to comment on the notice.
The hospital has blamed the patient's family members for the lapse. The family has said it was not aware of the protocol. The family members of the patient have now been traced and placed under quarantine.
Mumbai has reported more than 47,000 coronavirus cases of with over 1,500 deaths - the highest number of cases and deaths for any city in the country.
