Vashi hospital ‘turns away’ poor woman injured in accident
Good Samaritan says MGM Hospital gave several excuses to deny treatment to the woman.
MGM Hospital in Vashi has been accused of turning away a grievously injured patient after learning that she came from a poor family.
A good Samaritan who rushed the road mishap victim to the multispecialty hospital said the staff came up with every possible excuse to refuse treatment, in a blatant violation of the law. Demetrius Pais said the hospital relented only after he agreed to pay the initial deposit of Rs 20,000 from his own pocket.
Pais rushed to help the two. One of the victims was a burka-clad woman, aged between 24 and 26, who had gone to APMC police station in connection with some legal formalities. The other person was her friend, Tabrez Shaikh. Both are residents of Mankhurd, said Pais.
The woman, Mehjabeen, had suffered head injuries and was in a semi-conscious state when Pais picked her up. He then took Shaikh and Mehjabeen in his car to MGM Hospital.
“The hospital staff helped us put the woman on a stretcher and then took her inside and used cotton to wipe the blood on her face. A woman doctor saw the victim and spoke to Shaikh. But when she found out that they were residents of Mankhurd, she said the victim should be shifted to a municipal hospital,” said Pais.
The good Samaritan said he objected to the idea of sending the injured to a civic hospital. “I asked the doctor to start treatment as Mehjabeen was in a critical state and profusely bleeding, but she was not ready to budge. They then called a policeman who asked Shaikh to be in the hospital and not leave without his permission as it could be a criminal case.”
At that point, Pais intervened and told the cop that if a case had to be made it should be against the road contractors. “This enraged him. He told me if I had the guts I should go and question MMRDA or CIDCO. He used abusive terms while talking to me and remained a mute spectator while I was trying to persuade the hospital staff to admit and start treatment of the woman.”
Pais has recorded a video of the whole incident. It purportedly shows that the hospital authorities pointed out several excuses to not admit the woman. They even called for an ambulance and told him that he was wasting time and the victim should be rushed to a municipal hospital.
As the woman was being taken to the ambulance, she started choking and suffered a convulsion following which the ambulance driver refused to ferry her. “This forced the hospital authorities to admit the victim, but now they had another excuse.”
The hospital authorities, Pais said, contended that the woman was pregnant despite not being married and doubted her character. “They wanted her parents or immediate family members to admit her. I tried persuading them again, but they cited expenditure for ICU, CT scan and life support. It was more than an hour by then and the woman lay in the hospital passage without any treatment.”
After arguing for a long time, the staff apparently told Pais that if he was so keen on her treatment, he should pay the initial deposit of Rs 20,000. “As I agreed to pay the money, the junior doctor called for a senior doctor who rushed the victim to the ICU. I spoke to Shaikh and asked him to call me if there was any problem and left for my residence at Ghatkopar at 12.35 am.”
DCP Vijay Khaire (Zone 1) of Navi Mumbai police said, “It is the hospital’s responsibility to admit the victim and then think of other formalities. Also if a cop is behaving in that manner we will take appropriate action and will felicitate the person who helped an unknown person and saved her life.”
PK Shashankar, administrator of MGM Hospital, said they never denied admission for financial reasons. “It is a baseless allegation. These days, all our beds are full and she must have been asked to go to some other place only due to unavailability of beds. But as per our record, we admitted her and provided her all treatment. Then where is the question of not providing admission?”
Shashankar said they even gave the patient concession. “In our hospital, many poor patients are treated free of charge on a regular basis.”
MGM Hospital in Vashi has been accused of turning away a grievously injured patient after learning that she came from a poor family.
A good Samaritan who rushed the road mishap victim to the multispecialty hospital said the staff came up with every possible excuse to refuse treatment, in a blatant violation of the law. Demetrius Pais said the hospital relented only after he agreed to pay the initial deposit of Rs 20,000 from his own pocket.
It all began around 11.35 pm Sunday when Pais, 27, was returning to his Ghatkopar home after attending a funeral in Navi Mumbai. The software engineer had reached the Vashi village signal and was driving onto the flyover towards Vashi when he saw two people on a bike lost control and fell off due to a large pothole.
Pais rushed to help the two. One of the victims was a burka-clad woman, aged between 24 and 26, who had gone to APMC police station in connection with some legal formalities. The other person was her friend, Tabrez Shaikh. Both are residents of Mankhurd, said Pais.
The woman, Mehjabeen, had suffered head injuries and was in a semi-conscious state when Pais picked her up. He then took Shaikh and Mehjabeen in his car to MGM Hospital.
“The hospital staff helped us put the woman on a stretcher and then took her inside and used cotton to wipe the blood on her face. A woman doctor saw the victim and spoke to Shaikh. But when she found out that they were residents of Mankhurd, she said the victim should be shifted to a municipal hospital,” said Pais.
The good Samaritan said he objected to the idea of sending the injured to a civic hospital. “I asked the doctor to start treatment as Mehjabeen was in a critical state and profusely bleeding, but she was not ready to budge. They then called a policeman who asked Shaikh to be in the hospital and not leave without his permission as it could be a criminal case.”
At that point, Pais intervened and told the cop that if a case had to be made it should be against the road contractors. “This enraged him. He told me if I had the guts I should go and question MMRDA or CIDCO. He used abusive terms while talking to me and remained a mute spectator while I was trying to persuade the hospital staff to admit and start treatment of the woman.”
Pais has recorded a video of the whole incident. It purportedly shows that the hospital authorities pointed out several excuses to not admit the woman. They even called for an ambulance and told him that he was wasting time and the victim should be rushed to a municipal hospital.
As the woman was being taken to the ambulance, she started choking and suffered a convulsion following which the ambulance driver refused to ferry her. “This forced the hospital authorities to admit the victim, but now they had another excuse.”
The hospital authorities, Pais said, contended that the woman was pregnant despite not being married and doubted her character. “They wanted her parents or immediate family members to admit her. I tried persuading them again, but they cited expenditure for ICU, CT scan and life support. It was more than an hour by then and the woman lay in the hospital passage without any treatment.”
After arguing for a long time, the staff apparently told Pais that if he was so keen on her treatment, he should pay the initial deposit of Rs 20,000. “As I agreed to pay the money, the junior doctor called for a senior doctor who rushed the victim to the ICU. I spoke to Shaikh and asked him to call me if there was any problem and left for my residence at Ghatkopar at 12.35 am.”
DCP Vijay Khaire (Zone 1) of Navi Mumbai police said, “It is the hospital’s responsibility to admit the victim and then think of other formalities. Also if a cop is behaving in that manner we will take appropriate action and will felicitate the person who helped an unknown person and saved her life.”
PK Shashankar, administrator of MGM Hospital, said they never denied admission for financial reasons. “It is a baseless allegation. These days, all our beds are full and she must have been asked to go to some other place only due to unavailability of beds. But as per our record, we admitted her and provided her all treatment. Then where is the question of not providing admission?”
Shashankar said they even gave the patient concession. “In our hospital, many poor patients are treated free of charge on a regular basis.”
