'Crucial to audit deaths attributed to COVID-19,' say medical experts

Health experts have demanded an audit of all deceased persons in Maharashtra and Mumbai over the past few months considering the difficulties faced by comorbid patients in receiving treatment COVID positive patients have in the past complained of not receiving medicines for their other ailments like diabetes hypertension etc during the course of treatment at hospitalsSenior health experts from civic and private hospitals admitted to the existence of these areas of concern which need to be looked intoIt is a fact that patients with comorbidities were unable to get regular checkups done with their physicians or specialists during the lockdown Their comorbid conditions might have either aggravated or fluctuated in such situations When such patients become COVID19 positive the comorbid ailments do not get full attention and at times are left unattended a senior doctor attached to a civicrun medical college told middayThe doctor cited an example of a patient who was admitted for showing signs of hypertension 180110 mmHg when the hospital insisted on a COVID test which later came out negativeDr Wiqar Shaikh a senior allergy and asthma specialist said This is a bad time for people to fall ill The concentration of the administration is totally on COVID19 Other conditions concerning cardiac cancer hypertension diabetes tuberculosis stroke etc are either being ignored or neglected by all hospitals including private and government This is a sad story since several of these conditions are treatable and mortality could be prevented if appropriate action is initiatedThe number of deaths due to these conditions in India he pointed far exceeds the death due to COVID19 Unfortunately most of the outpatient departments and hospital consulting rooms are shut and therefore all other morbid conditions besides COVID19 are being overlooked he addedDr Shaikh spoke about a Byculla patients nightmare A doctors brother diagnosed as COVID19 positive with hypertension was not even provided a hospital bed and was forced to get himself treated at home with oxygen bronchodilators and highlevel antibiotics Even the ambulance to a COVID19 designated hospital did not arrive to pick up the patient despite several phone calls he said adding that medical personnel should also look out for comorbid conditions It is imperative that the government does a careful death audit to find out how many people have died of comorbid conditions instead of COVID19 he insistedDr Ketan Vagholkar professor of Surgery at DY Patil medical college too said that the actual mortality rate of pure COVID infection would be significantly less if these comorbidities were attended too He added During the course of COVID treatment the multidisciplinary approach in medical and surgical specialties is grossly lacking thereby leading to increased mortality It is of utmost importance to audit every death attributed to COVID in a critical manner Such an audit experts believe will help in bringing down the COVID mortality rateSources within the health department of BMC said A highlevel committee has already been formed under the leadership of former dean of KEM hospital Dr Avinash Supe to conduct the audit and work is in processAlso owing to the fact that most recent deaths at KEM hospital have taken place during the midnight or early morning hours the civic corporation will soon be installing CCTV cameras in the wards for stringent monitoring the official addedCatch 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