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The couple's only son, Avinash, died of suspected dengue on September 8 after allegedly being denied admission at two prominent private hospitals on the previous day. Reuters file photo for representation
The death of a 7-year-old boy of dengue after allegedly being denied treatment by five private hospitals and subsequent suicide by his parents today triggered widespread outrage prompting Delhi government to slap show-cause notices on them asking why their registration should not be cancelled.
The couple, Laxmichandra and Babita Rout-- both natives of Odisha, committed suicide by jumping from a four-storeyed building in south Delhi's Lado Sarai on Wednesday morning, a day after their only son Avinash died of suspected dengue, police said.
Five hospitals including Max hospital in Saket, Moolchand Khairatiram Hospital in Lajpat Nagar, Aakash Hospital in Malviya Nagar have been issued show cause notices to explain within a month why their registration should not be cancelled for allegedly refusing to admit the boy, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said.
The other two hospitals are Saket City Hospital and Irene Hospital, Kalkaji. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said strict action will be taken against the hospitals which refused admission to the boy. "It is completely unacceptable that some hospitals didn't accept a patient and he died. Strict action would be taken against them," he tweeted.
The Union Health Ministry also ordered an inquiry into the case. Health Minister JP Nadda said "guilty will not be spared".
DCP (south) Prem Nath said the couple has left behind a one-page suicide note in Odia, in which they wrote that "it is nobody's fault" and the "the decision" to end their lives was theirs.
Though the government issued notices to it, Max-Saket said no patient by the name of Avinash had come to it while Saket City Hospital said there was no record of his admission.
"We have checked our records and would like to inform that we did not receive any patient by the name of Avinash Rout at Max Hospital Saket. The patient never approached the hospital, hence the question of denying treatment to him does not arise," said a spokesperson of Max hospital.
Moolchand hospital's Medical Superintendent Madhu Handa said, "We had not denied admission. We don't want to comment further."
Ajit Gaba, Medical Director of Aakash hospital, said the hospital did not admit the boy as it did not have the ICU facilities but he was given medication. He said the hospital initated the process of transferring him to another hospital.
A spokesperson of Irene hospital said the patient was not admitted it did not have paediatric ICU and the parents were willing to move the boy to Batra hospital.
Police said couple the had their arms tied together with a stole when they allegedly committed suicide.
Police have initiated inquest proceedings into the incident under Section 174 CrPC. No case has been registered so far in the matter.
Laxmichandra worked with a private company and the family had been living for more than one year in a two-room rented apartment at Lado Sarai, said a police official.
Delhi Health Minister Jain said the number of dengue patients is fast rising and government cannot shut any hospital in the city considering the current situation.
Asked about the show cause notices, he said, "In today's situation, I do not have the option of shutting down any hospital even if I want to. We will take strict action against the hospitals found guilty of refusing treatment to the patient."
Giving a rundown of the ordeal of the parents, an official said the boy was brought to Moolchand hospital on September 7 which refused to admit him due to non-availability of beds.
From there, the patient was taken to Akash hospital and then to Saket city hospital. When Saket City hospital turned him away, he was taken to Max hospital and from there he was taken to Irene hospital.
Finally the boy was brought to Batra hospital at 11 PM where he was straightaway admitted to the paediatric ICU and put on ventilator as his condition was critical.
"The doctors tried to resuscitate him but the patient's condition deteriorated. He had multiple episodes of desaturation throughout the night. His BP and pulse remained unrecordable. The child was declared dead at 2 PM on September 8," said Shalini Pandey, Senior Consultant at Department of Paediatrics in Batra hospital.
She said the child died due to "dengue shock syndrome" and multi-organ failure. The dengue death toll in the national capital now stands at eight although the Municipal Corporation is yet to include six deaths in the official list.
According to municipal corporation data, 1,259 cases of dengue have been reported in Delhi this year till September 5 with at least 428 cases coming in the first week of this month.
The South MCD Mayor has also ordered an inquiry to find out if there was any lapses on the part of civic body in fumigating the Lado sarai area.
The couple, Laxmichandra and Babita Rout-- both natives of Odisha, committed suicide by jumping from a four-storeyed building in south Delhi's Lado Sarai on Wednesday morning, a day after their only son Avinash died of suspected dengue, police said.
Five hospitals including Max hospital in Saket, Moolchand Khairatiram Hospital in Lajpat Nagar, Aakash Hospital in Malviya Nagar have been issued show cause notices to explain within a month why their registration should not be cancelled for allegedly refusing to admit the boy, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said.
The other two hospitals are Saket City Hospital and Irene Hospital, Kalkaji. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said strict action will be taken against the hospitals which refused admission to the boy. "It is completely unacceptable that some hospitals didn't accept a patient and he died. Strict action would be taken against them," he tweeted.
The Union Health Ministry also ordered an inquiry into the case. Health Minister JP Nadda said "guilty will not be spared".
DCP (south) Prem Nath said the couple has left behind a one-page suicide note in Odia, in which they wrote that "it is nobody's fault" and the "the decision" to end their lives was theirs.
Though the government issued notices to it, Max-Saket said no patient by the name of Avinash had come to it while Saket City Hospital said there was no record of his admission.
"We have checked our records and would like to inform that we did not receive any patient by the name of Avinash Rout at Max Hospital Saket. The patient never approached the hospital, hence the question of denying treatment to him does not arise," said a spokesperson of Max hospital.
Moolchand hospital's Medical Superintendent Madhu Handa said, "We had not denied admission. We don't want to comment further."
Ajit Gaba, Medical Director of Aakash hospital, said the hospital did not admit the boy as it did not have the ICU facilities but he was given medication. He said the hospital initated the process of transferring him to another hospital.
A spokesperson of Irene hospital said the patient was not admitted it did not have paediatric ICU and the parents were willing to move the boy to Batra hospital.
Police said couple the had their arms tied together with a stole when they allegedly committed suicide.
Police have initiated inquest proceedings into the incident under Section 174 CrPC. No case has been registered so far in the matter.
Laxmichandra worked with a private company and the family had been living for more than one year in a two-room rented apartment at Lado Sarai, said a police official.
Delhi Health Minister Jain said the number of dengue patients is fast rising and government cannot shut any hospital in the city considering the current situation.
Asked about the show cause notices, he said, "In today's situation, I do not have the option of shutting down any hospital even if I want to. We will take strict action against the hospitals found guilty of refusing treatment to the patient."
Giving a rundown of the ordeal of the parents, an official said the boy was brought to Moolchand hospital on September 7 which refused to admit him due to non-availability of beds.
From there, the patient was taken to Akash hospital and then to Saket city hospital. When Saket City hospital turned him away, he was taken to Max hospital and from there he was taken to Irene hospital.
Finally the boy was brought to Batra hospital at 11 PM where he was straightaway admitted to the paediatric ICU and put on ventilator as his condition was critical.
"The doctors tried to resuscitate him but the patient's condition deteriorated. He had multiple episodes of desaturation throughout the night. His BP and pulse remained unrecordable. The child was declared dead at 2 PM on September 8," said Shalini Pandey, Senior Consultant at Department of Paediatrics in Batra hospital.
She said the child died due to "dengue shock syndrome" and multi-organ failure. The dengue death toll in the national capital now stands at eight although the Municipal Corporation is yet to include six deaths in the official list.
According to municipal corporation data, 1,259 cases of dengue have been reported in Delhi this year till September 5 with at least 428 cases coming in the first week of this month.
The South MCD Mayor has also ordered an inquiry to find out if there was any lapses on the part of civic body in fumigating the Lado sarai area.
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