AMRI Horror: Kin Say Victim Went With Stomach Ache, Returned Dead
Hundreds of people took out a near three-kilometre-long candle-light march in the city demanding justice for Deb.
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Video Producer: Srishti Tyagi
Video Editor: Mohd Ibrahim
AMRI hospital located at Dhakuria in South Kolkata has again hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons after being accused of negligence in treatment of a patient who died in the hospital on 8 August.
Sanglap Deb passed away nearly a week before he was going to celebrate his 25th birthday on 14 August.
Deb, a resident of Bikramgarh locality in the city, was the only child of his parents.
He had been staying in Delhi along with his mother after he got a job as a security officer in a private airline in November last year.
On 14 July 2018, he felt a pain in his stomach and went to AIIMS in Delhi for a check-up. Doctors there prescribed him a few medicines but that virtually failed in bringing him any relief.
“Since he was our only child, we didn’t want him to suffer. I immediately asked him to return with his mother,” said Niranjan Deb, Deb’s father.
‘My Son Warned Me Not to Sign Documents’
Four days into the treatment, doctors told the family members that Deb had developed severe pancreatitis and required immediate ventilation.
Deb’s father said his son had warned him not to sign the documents mandatory before shifting a patient to the ventilator. “My son had told me that he had found the situation suspicious here and had cautioned me not to shift him in ventilation or else he would never return home. His words turned out to be prophetic. He could have been alive had I listened to him,” he added.
Hospital Shot Video to Prove Recovery While Patient Was on Ventilator
The youth was kept on a ventilator for the next 24 days with a daily fee of Rs 80,000 excluding other charges. When his relatives began to ask questions about the longer time being taken for his recovery, the hospital released a video showing that Deb was responding to the treatment.
Nandi further alleged that they became suspicious after the authorities kept on parroting the same line about Deb’s recovery.
The family then threatened to file a police complaint if the hospital didn’t reveal information about Deb’s exact condition.
On 8 August the hospital declared that Deb passed away at 4:25 pm due to multi-organ failure.
“He had a thin frame but the body was completely swollen when it was handed over to us. There were bedsores and the skin was peeling off. The body was stinking heavily and it had started to decompose,” said Nandi.
The family shared the videos and images with The Quint.
“We took out the candle-light march because we demand justice for him and strict action against AMRI where deaths due to negligence have become a routine issue. We do not want any other innocent person to lose his life in the hands of the negligent doctors,” added Nandi.
AMRI Hospitals Not Alien to Controversies
The hospital authorities handed over a medical bill of around Rs 18 lakhs for the treatment, which the family cleared before taking over the body.
Deb’s family has lodged a complaint of medical negligence against AMRI and two doctors, Gautam Das and SK Todi, who were treating him.
In its years, AMRI has been no stranger to controversies. In fact, it is the same hospital where over 90 people including four staff members were asphyxiated in a major fire that broke out on its premises on 11 December 2011.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had described the tragedy as an “unforgivable crime”, and vowed “the harshest punishment possible" for those found guilty.
But so far the case has been moving at a lukewarm pace in the courts while the victim’s kin are running from pillar to post to get justice. All the accused are out on bail.