Hyderabad: A 35-year-old Dalit vegetable vendor from Ibrahimbagh lost his life in the early hours of Friday while undergoing treatment for a heart attack.
According to the family and relatives, Venkatesham, who sells vegetables on an auto-rickshaw on May 10, suffered a serious heart attack and was immediately taken to SNR hospitals, Beeramguda for treatment. He was later moved to Archana Hospital, Madinaguda for further treatment on May 11.
Speaking to Siasat.com, relatives of the deceased alleged that the patient died due to gross medical negligence.
“The hospital asked us to pay around Rs 1 lakh for Angiogram and an open heart bi-pass surgery even when Venkatesam is an Aarogyasri health insurance cardholder. They asked us to pay the money immediately and the family loaned it from money lenders at very high-interest rates,” Narasimhulu, the brother-in-law of Venkatesam said.
“On May 19th (Thursday), they conducted the bi-pass surgery and at 7 pm told us that the surgery was a success and the patient is doing well. But, they called us at 4 am on Saturday and said that the patient suffered another heart attack and his situation is quite serious. At 5 am they informed us that the patient lost his life,” he added.
Relatives alleged that the hospital was hiding facts about his death. “They told us that the patient was doing well and made us pay the bills. They showed him to us through the glass doors at 9 pm on Friday after the surgery and he wasn’t moving. The doctor said that it was because of sedation and in the morning, he was suddenly dead. They are lying to us. We have not received any paperwork regarding the whole procedure until now,” they alleged.
Scores of relatives, villagers, and caste leaders of the Beda Budaga Jangam community, to which Venkatesam belonged, thronged the premises of the Archana hospital on Friday morning and raised questions and demanded compensation for the alleged medical negligence on the hospital’s part. The police reached the location in large numbers and got the situation under control.
After several talks and mediation by the police, the hospital management agreed to pay a compensation of Rs 3 lakhs to the deceased’s family, the police informed.
But the caste leaders alleged that the police took the side of the hospital during the mediation. “The dead man has a wife in her late twenties and two children. We demanded Rs 20 lakhs as compensation for the hospital’s carelessness. They brought the amount down to Rs 3 lakhs. The police even warned us that if we don’t agree to the deal and take the dead body home, they would file countercases against us. It is because we belong to the Dalit community,” a Beda Budaga Jangam caste leader alleged.
The hospital management, in spite of several attempts to reach out, wasn’t available for comment.
