New Delhi: An 80-year-old coronavirus patient, who had approached the Delhi High Court seeking free treatment at a government hospital, died two days before the court was due to hear the petition.
The court was Friday scheduled to hear the plea, which was filed by Motiram Goyal as a last ditch attempt for treatment at a government hospital with ventilator facilities.
However, the petitioner passed away on 3 June, the same day he approached the court.
His lawyer, R.P.S. Bhatti told ThePrint that Goyal was admitted to Jain Hospital in Delhi on 25 May after he developed a fever. The plea alleged that Goyal contracted the infection in the hospital “due to negligence of staff of said hospital”. He was tested for Covid-19 on 30 May, results of which came back as positive on 1 June.
“The condition of the petitioner soon deteriorated, leading to the requirement of a ventilator,” the plea stated.
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Goyal was put on a ventilator. However, according to the petition, the hospital allegedly began pressuring Goyal’s son to shift him to another hospital on the grounds that it wasn’t equipped to treat Covid-19 patients.
Goyal’s son apparently approached several hospitals, including Rajiv Gandhi hospital, AIIMS, Max hospital at Patparganj and Apollo hospital, but was allegedly refused admission owing to lack of beds.
The plea also claimed that Jain Hospital had been charging the patient “exorbitant rates” for treatment.
Goyal, through his son, then sought free treatment at a hospital with ventilator facilities.
In his plea, he asked the authorities to “immediately arrange to accommodate the petitioner in a government hospital with ventilator facility to provide free medical treatment to him under the scheme of BPL (below poverty line)”.
Goyal’s lawyer Bhatti told ThePrint that during the hearing before Justice Navin Chawla, he informed the court that the patient had passed away and requested that such medical emergency cases should be heard and disposed of the same day.
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All COVID-19 treatment for all citizens in both government and private hospitals should be completely free. Apart from purely humanitarian reasons the fact remains the Government of India has failed to protect its citizens from contracting the illness, particularly the elderly, and should bear financial responsibility. There is no point in any nationalist pretensions if the Indian government cannot save the lives of its people at a time of crisis like this.
It is absolutely ridiculous to say that people should be treated absolutely free ! There is no such thing as “free”. There is always a cost – paid by everyone and it is much more than what you pay individually.
The doctors wont work for free, the nurses won’t work for free, the ventilator won’t work for free, the medicines and PPEs are not free and the ICUs are not free.
The cheapest option is to take preventive care and be very very careful about coronavirus. Prevention is CHEAPER than the CURE.
1 Condolences.
2.It is not clear whether he actually approached government hospitals?
3. How much amount he spent to file his pettion in SC?
4What is the lawyer’s fee?
These informations should also be put in public domain.