Bizman dies after being ‘denied treatment at 5 hosps’

Ludhiana: Before he died, a city businessman was allegedly made to shuttle among five hospitals and wrongly declared Covid-19 positive.
Surinder Kumar, 62, a hosiery businessman and resident of Old Madhopuri, was suffering from breathlessness, which made the hospitals presume that he was a suspected Covid-19 patient.
His son, Parag Gulati, said, “My father complained of breathing problem on Tuesday morning. We took him to a nearby private hospital. Suspecting him to be a Covid-19 patient, the doctors there said they don’t have a bed or a ventilator. Thereafter, we took him to another private hospital. There, he was given oxygen support. But around 2.30pm, the doctors said they don’t have a bed and a ventilator. We went to two more private hospitals and got the same reply. Then, we reached civil hospital.”
At civil hospital, the patient’s rapid test for Covid-19 was conducted.
Kumar’s son-in-law Bhupesh Gogia said, “Minutes later, the man at the civil hospital reception desk told us that the patient was Covid-19 positive. Saying that the hospital does not have a ventilator, he asked us to take the patient to a private hospital. Thereafter, I called cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, who arranged a bed for him at a private hospital. It was the same hospital that had earlier told us that it neither had a bed nor a ventilator.”
“We were calling an ambulance, when my father expired. The man at the reception desk of civil hospital had said my father was positive, but when we reached the hospital to take his body on Wednesday, we were told that he had tested negative. Doctors gave us in writing that his Covid-19 test report was negative,” Gulati added.
Gogia said, “There could have been another reason for his breathlessness. We took him to four private hospitals, which did not admit him. We want to know who is responsible for his death. We are writing to Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh about it.”
Civil hospital nodal officer Dr Rohit Rampal said, “Surinder Kumar’s Covid-19 test report was negative. A namesake patient had tested positive and that might have created confusion.”