Says family of country's first swine flu victim Reeda Shaikh; Directorate General of Health Services had suggested in its report to look into Ruby Hall hospital's role in the case, however three months on, no action has been taken in the matter
Says family of country's first swine flu victim Reeda Shaikh; Directorate General of Health Services had suggested in its report to look into Ruby Hall hospital's role in the case, however three months on, no action has been taken in the matter
Three months after the expert committee of doctors at Sassoon Hospital submitted a report on the country's first swine flu death -- that of Reeda Shaikh, the state is yet to act on one of its most important recommendations. The suggestion by the Directorate General of Health Services to look into the role of Ruby Hall hospital in the case has been overlooked.
Reeda's family said they have now almost lost hope of getting 'justice' and are tired of the entire process. "It's been three months since the committee report came out. Why didn't they inquire into Ruby Hall's role? Clearly, nobody wants to do anything about this. Instead everyone is pointing fingers at us saying forget it, it is old news now," said Ayesha Shaikh, Reeda's aunt.
Following Reeda's death, her family had alleged medical negligence against Jehangir and Ruby Hall hospital. where the 14-year-old was admitted.
Speaking to MiD DAY, senior doctors at Sassoon Hospital said that the report did not comment on Ruby Hall hospital's role, but asked the state to conduct an enquiry.
Blood samples
"The committee avoided making a comment regarding the testing of her blood samples done by Ruby Hall hospital. They said that they had not come across any circular or directive from the health services that did not allow testing of samples at private hospitals at the time that her investigations were carried out," said a doctor, who was part of the investigation process.
However, at the same time they added that the committee had said that any investigation into Ruby Hall's role in testing H1N1 samples should be done by the director of health services, Mumbai.
"The DHS should look into this matter. We have made all observations in the report," said Dr D B Kadam, one of the members on the committee, refusing to elaborate further.
Despite repeated attempts, Dr D S Dakhure, director of health services didn't respond to queries. However, senior officials in the directorate said that they hadn't heard of any committee being formed in this regard.
No enquiry
Top officers in Pune, joint director Dr Pandit Chauhan and deputy director claimed that they hadn't read the report.
"Firstly, I don't know that such a recommendation was made by the experts and to the best of my knowledge no such enquiry has been conducted," said Dr Pradeep Awate, in-charge, swine flu cell and integrated diseases surveillance project.
Sources in the DGHS said that most people had conveniently overlooked the report.
| Other side |
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After many attempts to contact Ruby Hall authorities, Dr Parvez Grant, chief trustee and CEO responded to our calls. However, he refused to discuss the case saying, "That case is history. Don't waste your and my time by speaking about it," he said. |
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