HC pulls up Jharkhand over black fungus treatment

Ranchi: The Jharkhand high court came down heavily on the state government on Wednesday while hearing a public interest litigation on the condition of patients suffering from black fungus in Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims).
A division bench of Chief Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad while hearing the PIL initiated suo motu by the court said that if the state cannot ensure treatment of its people in a government-run hospital, will they have to sell their lands to procure treatment, the bench rebuked. The court has sought for a detailed status report in the matter.
The PIL was initiated by the bench based on media reports of one Usha Devi not receiving proper treatment for black fungus in Rims. Usha Devi’s children had requested the chief minister to help their mother. The two siblings, Gaurav and Puja, have written a letter to chief minister Hemant Soren urging him to provide an air ambulance to airlift their mother to a better medical centre in Ahmedabad or Kerala.
The children were shunned out of the chief minister’s residential office informing them that they can only be given monetary help up to Rs 1 lakh only. The government does not have funds to provide an air ambulance, the siblings were said.
Media reports further said that Usha Devi was admitted in Rims on May 17 and her treatment was delayed for two days and the infection had spread over her face affecting an eye and also her brain. Medicines were also not provided to the patient, the newspapers reported.
The high court while hearing the petition online queried from the Rims director whether medicines are provided to patients in Rims or do they have to buy medicines from outside. The Rims director admitted that not all medicines were available in the hospital and there was a shortage in supply.