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Home > Mumbai > Mumbai News > Article > KEM waives medical fee of infant who suffered severe burns in ICU fire

KEM waives medical fee of infant who suffered severe burns in ICU fire

Updated on: 09 November,2019 06:15 AM IST  |  Mumbai
Arita Sarkar |

Prince, who was undergoing treatment for a heart condition, is currently being treated for pneumonia and continues to be on ventilator.

KEM waives medical fee of infant who suffered severe burns in ICU fire

Prince is undergoing treatment at KEM Hospital for a heart condition

A day after two-month-old boy was badly burnt in a fire inside the intensive care unit, KEM Hospital has said it will treat the child for free. Prince, who was undergoing treatment for a heart condition, is currently being treated for pneumonia and continues to be on ventilator.


The hospital has, however, not offered any compensation to his parents, who came to Mumbai from Varanasi for their son's treatment. Leader of Opposition Ravi Raja on Friday demanded compensation for the family and a third-party inquiry into the incident.


"We have administered antibiotics for pneumonia and conduct an X-Ray a few days later. We will operate on Prince, who has a congenital heart defect, once he is stable. Doctors are also closely monitoring his burn," said Dr Mukesh Agarwal, head of department of paediatrics.


Meanwhile, Prince's family has alleged that the hospital staff informed the parents, who was sleeping outside the ICU when the fire broke out, about the burn only an hour later. The fire broke out in the ECG cables suspected to have been caused by a short circuit, around midnight on Wednesday.

"We were outside the ICU since parents are not allowed to spend the night inside. Around 3 am, I heard the commotion and saw guards rushing inside the ICU, but we weren't allowed in. I knew there was a fire but didn't know that my son was injured until the guards came out an hour later and told me," said father Pannelal Rajbhar.
Pannelal said the hospital authorities have assured him that they will treat his son for all the problems free of charge. His relative, Satiram Hardeo Rajbhar, said, "We just want him to get better soon. Such an incident shouldn't have happened in the first place. Even the doctors said that such a thing had never happened before."

Raja has, however, written to the BMC chief Praveen Pardeshi, demanding compensation for the child's family. He also met Ashwini Joshi, additional municipal commissioner, health. "This incident was KEM Hospital's fault and the family must be compensated. Patients and family members have long complained that the electricity lines and appliances at civic hospitals are old. This is a serious matter and they should be repaired on priority. An inspection of fire safety equipment should be done as well," he said.

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