Gurugram: Fortis dropped from government’s list of empanelled hospitals after dengue death
Meanwhile, the hospital denied offering a bribe to the girl’s father to drop the case.
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij has ordered that Gurugram’s Fortis Hospital be removed from a list of private hospitals empanelled with the state government, PTI reported on Friday. This comes a day after a three-member committee set up by the state government found that gross negligence on the part of hospital caused the death of a seven-year-old girl, Adya Singh, suffering from dengue.
In July, the Haryana government had framed a policy under which private hospitals and clinical laboratories could be empanelled to provide treatment to government employees, pensioners and their dependants.
Adya Singh was admitted to the hospital on August 31. She spent nearly 15 days on ventilator support and died on September 14. The panel found that there were were many irregularities, and unethical practices in the case, and the protocol for diagnosis and medical duties were not followed.
On Wednesday, Health Minister Vij had called the death of the seven-year-old girl a murder. He had also said that a First Information Report will be registered against the hospital administration and a notice had been issued to cancel the licence of its blood bank.
Meanwhile, Fortis hospital on Thursday denied offering bribe to the girl’s father to drop the case. Earlier in the day, the girl’s father had said that “senior members of Fortis” told him that they will refund him the amount he was charged and offered an additional Rs 25 lakh.
“We categorically deny assertions or allegations of any bribe being paid to Jayant Singh, father of late Adya Singh, who was treated for dengue shock syndrome at the Fortis Memorial Research Institute,” the hospital said in a statement, according to NDTV.
However, the hospital said that it “did offer a refund of the out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the family, in good faith”. Its statement added, “Furthermore, consequent to articulation of the family’s financial position by the father, we offered an additional amount purely as a humanitarian gesture.”
The hospital had earlier been accused of overcharging the girl’s family and the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority had served it a show-cause notice. The hospital had asked Jayant Singh, a resident of Dwarka in Delhi, to pay nearly Rs 16 lakh for treating his seven-year-old daughter Adya for two weeks.
