As the country is facing a tough battle against the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, the amount of fake news regarding it also has seen an alarming rise in the last few days. Today several newspapers and media portals reported that Ali Hasan, the second son of Param Vir Chakra awardee Abdul Hamid, died in GSVM Medical College in Kanpur due to lack of oxygen. Reports by Jagran, Amar Ujala, Nav Bharat Times etc claimed that 61 years old man died in Kanpur after he was not provided oxygen, but the reports made conflicting claims.
While Amar Ujala claimed that doctors had asked the family to arrange for oxygen cylinders, but Ali Hasan died before they could arrange a cylinder, but Jagran report said that while initially he was provided oxygen, later doctors removed it saying his condition has improved and no longer needs oxygen. The report claims that even after his condition deteriorated after that, the doctors refused to administer him medical oxygen.
The NVT report is combination of the above two reports, as it claimed that after doctors removed oxygen saying he no longer needs it, his oxygen level started falling rapidly, and then the doctors asked the family to arrange oxygen. But he died on Friday morning while the waiting for oxygen. The reports also claimed that the doctors refused to do Covid-19 test on Ali Hasan. Several other Hindi media houses and online news portals also reported the same making the same claims.
According to the reports, Hasan’s eldest son Saleem alleged that his father died due to negligence by the doctors and hospital staff, as they turned a deaf ear towards his pleas. He also claimed that even after they informed the hospital staff that the patient is the son of a Param Vir Chakra recipient, they didn’t hear their request.
AAP MLA Sanjay Singh also tweeted a newspaper report making such claims.
After such claims made by the media, the Principal of the GSVM Medical College, also known as Kanpur Medical College, wrote a letter to the DC of Kanpur city district denying the reports. He has denied that there is oxygen shortage in the hospital, and said that Hasan was provided as soon as he was admitted.
The letter by the Principal Dr R B Kamal said that Ali Hasan was brought the hospital at 1.05 AM on 22nd April in a very critical condition, and he was admitted at the emergency ward. He asserted that doctors had 14 litre oxygen was made available for Hasan from NRBM, but his condition didn’t improve and he died on 23rd April during the treatment.
The statement adds that at present the hospital has around 650 patients admitted among whom 500 need oxygen and they are being provided with it. The Principal added that all patients who need oxygen are getting it, and the report that Ali Hasan died due to lack of oxygen is false, misleading and baseless.