These doctors died saving the state (So why won't the govt help them?)

WHEN the government asked for the help of private doctors amid the overwhelming rise in COVID19 cases they stepped forward and in the process 58 of them died of the virus But today their families have been denied the R50lakh insurance cover The families most of whom have lost their sole breadwinner ask the government why they have been left out of the financial support scheme meant for the Corona Warriorsmidday on Thursday reached out to families of some of the deceased doctors from Thane Ahmednagar and other parts of the state Many of them are survived by elderly parents wives and newborns left without financial supportDr Vilas KakadeDr Advait Kakade 32 son of the late Dr Vilas Kakade had a similar opinion about the compensation for the Corona Warriors Advait lost his 65yearold father to COVID19 in July Dr Vilas an MBBS hailing from Karjat taluka Ahmednagar was practicing and taking care of asymptomatic COVID19 patientsAdvait said My father had no health problem but he suddenly developed fever Many patients came with complaints of fever and my father came in direct contact with them to take their temperature He saw about 6070 patients dailyIn the second week of July my father developed symptoms and he did a routine blood test and found that his platelet level had dropped He suspected it to be a case of dengue or malaria so he did further tests but all reports came back negative By then his symptoms had aggravated and he died during the course of treatment a few days laterWe hope the government will keep its promise and help the poor families with monetary help by clearing the insurance papers Otherwise many innocent poor people will be left in the lurch as their sole breadwinner is no more said AdvaitDr Akshay ThakurLife had never been so cruel for the Thakur family of Upawan Thane West The elderly parents of Dr Akshay Thakur 29 could not even get a glimpse of their son on July 5 when he breathed his last at a private hospital in Navi MumbaiHis mother Prathiba 56 who was undergoing treatment for COVID19 in the general ward of the same hospital had spoken to him on the morning of July 2 as he was wheeled out of the ICU where he was on a ventilator for almost eight daysAai I am fine now I will be discharged in the next two days Akshay had told his mother But by evening his health started deteriorating and he was put on ventilator support againShocked by Akshays demise father Deepak suffered a heart attack and mothers health also started deteriorating Now Deepak is running around for the insurance cover the government had assured for the frontline warriorsAll my retirement funds were used in Akshays dental education and he was now taking care of us I do not have pension or a source of income Akshay was to get married in the coming few weeks we were all happy and were looking forward to settling with our daughterinlaw a lawyer But we had to sell even the jewelleries that Akshay had bought for his wouldbe wife for our treatment We still owe R14 lakh to people who helped us for the treatment Also rent of Akshays clinic in Ulwe and the EMIs on the loan for buying the dental chair have not been paid for the past six months Akshay had never taken any life insurance either said DeepakMy wife and I have no financial support now Our elder daughter is married and is a school teacher earning a mere R8000 which is approximate monthly expenses towards our medicine Akshay used to take care of our medicines he addedDeepak told midday that after their insistence on being safe amid the deadly virus outbreak Akshay used to visit his clinic daily on alternate daysDeepak said We were against Akshay going to the clinic but he made us understand that toothache can become unbearable at times and if he wont keep his clinic open patients will have to continue bearing the pain for long which was not in the interest of patients and after much pursuance he agreed to visit the clinic on alternate daysHe said the problem started on June 19 when Akshay had fever but after taking some rest he was fine and started visiting the clinic However his health started deteriorating and on July 22 we took him to Apollo hospital CBD where the doctors started the COVID19 treatment but we were told that the daily expenses would be over R90000 which we could not afford We looked for beds in other hospitals and finally shifted Askhay to Panvel civic hospital on July 23 and with no treatment coming his way Akshay started becoming breathless and was shifted to Reliance hospital Khoparkairane where he was put on ventilator support said the fatherWe have lost our son who was everything to us We have no source of income and the health officials who were talking to me initially have now stopped answering my calls The frontline health workers started keeping their clinic open as per the government directive and even they were assured insurance coverage for Corona warriors Then why are we made to suffer asked DeepakDr Dnyaneshwar BhosaleDr Dnyaneshwar 36 was the only paediatrician from his village Mortalwadi in Latur district He had started his 25bed paediatric hospital with eight NICU bed facilities in Udgir just 10 months back He had taken a loan of Rs 25 lakh from two banks to start his Bhosale Children HospitalHis younger brother Taterao Bhosale 29 told midday My brother was passionate about the hospital and for over two months he was personally supervising the entire set up His practice was an inspiration for many youngsters from our villageOur father Ramesh 58 a retired school teacher had sold his farms to ensure Dnyaneshwar completed his MBBS and then the higher studies in paediatric care He was taking care of his patients even during the lockdown We were also excited about welcoming a new member in the family as his wife Priyanka 27 was due for delivery of their second childOn July 8 my brother complained of breathing difficulty and we took him to a local doctor who advised us to shift him to a super speciality centre which is 250 km away in Secunderabad He succumbed to COVID19 on July 29 and 15 days back Priyanka delivered a baby girlWe approached the Indian Medical AssociationMaharashtra seeking help in claiming the insurance cover of R50 lakh which was promised by the government But all our claims have been getting rejected We have a massive loan of R20 lakh and yearly rent of Rs 9 lakh for the hospital I dont know how we will pay them without financial support Also his children are too young and all our dreams have been shattered said Taterao a software engineer in PuneDr Manohar AnandheDr Manohar 66 a paediatrician was an inspiration and mentor for many young medical professionals from Chandrapur and the neighbouring districts He was the first postgraduate paediatrician who had over 40 years of experience Son of a poor farmer who had no clothes power or even sufficient food Manohar was good at studies and got many scholarships He set up Anandhe hospital which remained operational even during the lockdownDr Ajinkya 32 his son who is doing an advanced study in Urology said My father was healthy exercised regularly and had no comorbidities He actively looked at patients who were coming with regular fever There were a few asymptomatic patients who cannot be identified as tests would be recommended only for symptomatic patients My father became unwell in the third week of September and by September 17 his health started deteriorating He breathed his last on September 18I am fortunate that my father had managed to keep some savings even after giving free treatments to the poor and needy It is unfortunate that young doctors have become victims of COVID19 and their parents and family are left in the lurch We hope that the government will consider the contribution of all frontline warriors who lost their lives treating COVID19 patients and help their families monetarily Ajinkya saidDr Prashant JagtapDr Prashant 32 hailed from Kuldharan village near Ahmednagar He was a practicing BHMS Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery doctor at a private hospital He was on COVID19 duty when he contracted the virus and died in the first week of AugustPrashants brother Kumar Jaqtab told midday We are farmers and have sugarcane and toor crops which seldom help us earn sufficient money It was Prashant who supported us financially Prashant was the most qualified member of our house and he completed all his studies through bank loans and scholarshipsAlso ReadCOVID19 Frontline doctors not paid for three months nowPrashant got married in May 2019 and his wife Aarti 25 was due for delivery when she was informed about his serious health condition She recently delivered a girl who has been named Prapthi said KumarDr Prashant Jagtaps parents Pramod Jagtap 60 and Ahilya Jagtap who were dependent on their son financiallyHe added Prashant never told us about his loans We would bother him only when we had to refer some patients from the village to Ahmednagar and he would take care of them We have not received any financial support from the government or political leaders from our village Our parents are too old and he was the only support for usKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news