Pune pregnant woman's death: Guilty will be punished, says CM
Protests continued even as Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital announced it won't ask for deposits from patients at the emergency department
Pune, Apr 5 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said the guilty should be punished amid an outrage over a pregnant woman's death after she was allegedly refused admission by Pune's Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital over non-payment of a Rs 10 lakh deposit.
Mistakes need to be corrected, the chief minister told reporters after the kin of the woman, who died at another facility after giving birth to twin daughters, met him in Pune.
Meanwhile, protests by political workers continued on the second day on Saturday even as Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital announced it won't ask for deposits from patients at the emergency department.
Fadnavis had ordered the formation of a committee to inquire into the death of Tanisha Bhise, the wife of the personal assistant of BJP MLC Amit Gorkhe.
The Bhise family and Gorkhe met Fadnavis requesting a strict against the hospital administration.
"The government committee is already looking into the matter. The guilty should be punished. We will take strict measures to avoid such incidents in the future," Fadnavis, who heads the Home Department, told reporters.
He said a resolution was passed in the assembly conferring new rights to the charity commissioner. We are trying to bring all operations of the charity commissionerate on a single online platform, he said.
"Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital was built following huge efforts by the Mangeshkar family, but mistakes need to be corrected. There are some primary findings from the committee. However, it is not appropriate to comment till complete findings are noted," the chief minister said.
A member of the Bhise family said the chief minister listened to their version of the incident.
"We requested him to take action on hospital officials. We hope the CM will give us justice," the family member said.
Earlier in the day, the hospital announced it would no longer ask for deposits from patients at the emergency department in view of the latest events.
"In the early years of Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, we never took a deposit. But as the number of critical cases increased and the cost of complex treatments rose, the hospital began taking deposits in certain high-cost cases," the hospital's medical director Dr Dhananjay Kelkar stated in an open letter.
"However, in light of yesterday's events, we have re-evaluated this practice and passed a resolution that the hospital will no longer take any deposit from patients entering through the Emergency Department, including emergency deliveries and paediatric emergencies. This will be implemented with immediate effect".
He defended the hospital by reiterating that he had personally told the woman's kin to pay as per their ability and also offered all help, but they left with the patient without informing anyone.
While it is factually incorrect and unfair to hold the hospital directly responsible for the incident and the unfortunate death, the hospital is still investigating whether it showed adequate sensitivity towards the patient, Dr Kelkar added.
Alluding to the protests at the hospital by various political parties on Friday, Dr Kelkar termed it a "black day".
An internal inquiry report of the Mangeshkar Hospital on Friday claimed that the allegations of denial of admission for non-payment of Rs 10 lakh were "misleading" and made "out of frustration" by her family.
The woman's pregnancy was in the high-risk category, and her two underweight fetuses of seven months, coupled with a history of an old ailment, required Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) treatment for at least two months, it said.
The treatment required Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh and the family was advised that in case of lack of funds, they could admit the patient to the government-run Sassoon General Hospital for a complicated surgery, it added.
Protests continued outside the hospital on Saturday with activists of NCP (SP), Akhand Maratha Morcha, and Lahuji Shakti Sena demanding registration of a case against doctors of the hospital.
Some members of Lahuji Shakti Sena went to the terrace of the hospital and raised slogans against the administration.
A day earlier, members cutting across party lines staged demonstrations outside the hospital in Erandavne area. Some of them smeared the hospital entrance signboard with black paint. PTI