As per the complaint accessed by The Indian Express, Vijay had been admitted to Paras hospital of Panchkula on June 3 for heart treatment and was to be discharged on June 5. (Representational)Coming under fire again, Paras Hospital of Panchkula was pulled up by district authorities over allegations of cheating, after a 68-year-old retired police officer from Haryana said that the hospital falsely declared him to be Covid positive.
In a complaint submitted by Vijay Mehta, at the CM Window on July 14 which percolated down to Panchkula CMO only recently, the retired police officer, now residing in Ambala had alleged that the hospital declared him positive falsely only so they could fleece him.
As per the complaint accessed by The Indian Express, Vijay had been admitted to Paras hospital of Panchkula on June 3 for heart treatment and was to be discharged on June 5. “All formalities of my discharge had been completed. The discharge form was signed at 11.21 am and my son was standing outside itself. But all of a sudden, they took me back to the room and prohibited me from leaving,” he told The Indian Express.
His personal belongings were not returned despite several requests and instead he was shifted to the hospital’s covid ward at 8 pm the same day. “A woman in a PPE kit shifted me to the Covid ward. I was not told what was happening and was kept there without my will and without my mobile phone,” he said.
As proof, Vijay attached his Covid positive report by the hospital, which as per the timing mentioned, was released at 10.16 pm, more than two after he had already been shifted to the ward.
“How can the hospital know a patient is already positive when the report has come in later? Why did they not release him upon discharge?” asked a doctor from the Panchkula civil hospital who has handed the probe.
Vijay has levelled serious allegations stating he was “detained at the hospital illegally and without his wish.“Even if I was positive, how can you forcefully keep me at the hospital without my wish? I should have been given the chance to choose my place of treatment,” he added.
After several protests and arguments, the hospital had agreed to get him re-tested from civil hospital of Panchkula on June 8. The test had declared him negative on June 9. “I feel both the private lab of Gurgaon where my samples were sent for testing and the hospital are in cahoots with each other,” alleges Vijay.
Investigation in the matter has brought forward plenty loopholes in the hospital’s version. The administration has asked the hospital for reports of all doctors who were quarantined as were in contact with Vijay during his operation.
“As per the hospital’s own records, it becomes apparent that Vijay’s admission was framed and illegal. They discharged him in the morning and again put him in covid ward at evening. Was he just roaming around the hospital the whole day? Why did they put him in covid ward before the tests were even complete? Why was no consent taken from the patient before admitting him into covid ward?” a senior district official told Express, on the condition of anonymity.
The probe committee reportedly feels there may be many more such cases. “Vijay is a knowledgeable man who knew his rights. But not everyone knows it. They may have duped many as yet,” added the official.
As per the official, “Paras is not responding to the committee probing the case. They are not filing their reply or showing proof and are sending their Resident Medical officer (RMO) and nursing staff for the probe. They do not feel accountable to the administration and are taking this very lightly.”
After his discharge, Vijay also got tested for anitbodies, which came back negative. “Which proves I was never infected,” he said.
The complaint was sent to the CM window and then to the Director General of Health office who had marked the enquiry to CMO Panchkula. The same was received at civil hospital Panchkula, late August. However, it was initiated only now as a doctor on the committee has tested positive.
Believing that it was his insurance and government reimbursement of treatment that led the hospital to cheat him, Vijay has further pointed out that despite having a Haryana government cashless card, the hospital had taken all payment in cash. Vijay has specifically named at least two doctors from the private lab in Gurgaon which declared his result and a doctor and staff of Paras hospital in his letter to the CM.
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