In the last five days, several students of the University of Hyderabad, who were close friends of Surya Pratap Bharati, a PhD research scholar, have gone through a horrific experience. Surya, who had suffered a brain stroke and was partially paralysed, was rushed to the Citizens Specialty Hospital in Nallagandla. However, a reportedly false positive test for COVID-19 done at the hospital ended up delaying his treatment and allegedly led to his death.
Surya's friends had raised funds, taken him to two hospitals and put in a lot of efforts to provide him timely medical care, but they finally lost their friend allegedly due to medical negligence.
On August 17, as per the recommendation of the University Health Centre, Surya was rushed to the Citizens Speciality Hospital after he suffered a brain stroke and was partially paralysed. He was admitted to the hospital and was tested for coronavirus via a Rapid Antibody Test. The result was reported to be negative. The next day, the hospital carried out an RT-PCR test and he was reported to be COVID-19 positive. Since COVID-19 patients are not treated at Citizens Speciality Hospital, Surya was shifted to the Continental Hospital. However, the RT-PCR test was done twice and the results came out negative.
On August 21, Surya died of multiple organ failure and a cardiac arrest. According to the university students, Surya Pratap died due to medical negligence by Citizens Speciality Hospital.
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Hemant Dogra, a close friend of Surya who is presently pursuing his M. Phil in the University, said, “This is a case of sheer negligence by Citizens Hospital. If timely treatment had been given to Surya, he would have survived. Surya was falsely tested positive by the Citizens Hospital, for reasons best known to them. Surya hails from a poor family and his father works as a daily wage labourer. The hospital should be booked for criminal negligence and they should provide compensation to Surya’s family.”
A complaint was filed by the University's students' union against Citizens Speciality Hospital at the Chandanagar police station and the investigation is underway. Chandanagar SI Ahmed Pasha said, “A complaint has been received and preliminary investigation is being carried out. We have reached out to the concerned hospital for details regarding this patient. Based on the information, the further course of action will follow.”