Meera Devi, who underwent surgery in GB Pant, is suffering from deteriorating vision now
37-year-old Meera Devi sits shrivelling at her Okhla home in New Delhi. Everything around her is a blur. She opens her eyes but she cannot see properly. She runs a high fever every day. The left side of her body aches sharply. She keeps writhing in pain.
Meera Devi and her husband Ram filed a petition in Delhi High Court in August, earlier this year, against All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), after the hospital gave her a date for neurosurgery as late as 2018, two years from when she was detected with her condition at the hospital's Out Patient Department (OPD).
On August 30, after being turned down by four hospitals, she got operated for brain tumour in GB Pant Hospital at New Delhi. The family hoped for respite after the surgery to no avail. "She has started developing complications once again. We took her for a follow up on October 17 to GB Pant and they referred us to the neighbouring Gurunanak Eye Hospital. The doctors have asked us to come back next week for another follow up," Ram, Meera Devi's husband told DNA.
AIIMS would operate the patient quickly, but with a rider. The hospital asked Ram to admit Meera Devi to the private ward for a quick surgery after paying Rs 1.5 lakh. For Ram, who held a day job at the printing press, to cough up this huge sum was impossible. "While general ward patients have to wait for two years to get operated, in private facility one can immediately get treated by paying huge sums of money. We were so dejected after this, we saw no hope," Ram said.
Later, Ram got Meera Devi admitted to GB Pant Hospital and incurred expenses close to Rs 20,000. "Even as the surgery in the hospital was free, I was asked to buy expensive drugs and consummables from private chemists," he said. On Thursday, petitioner Meera Devi submitted suggestions in Delhi High Court, to improve conditions and remove discrimination in government-run hospitals.
"Giving long dates for surgery when surgery is urgent is nothing but a joke with the patients who come to AIIMS from far distances. In case it is not possible for the hospital to conduct surgery urgently, the hospital should not only explain it to the patient but also ensure an alternative arrangement in some other hospital where such surgery can be conducted, urgently. It needs a network among all the public funded hospitals, including all the identified private hospitals obliged to provide free treatment to economically weaker section," said Ashok Agarwal, advocate of the petitioner.
On July 15, Meera Devi suffered convulsions in the bath room and collapsed. She was taken to Safdarjung Hospital, where the CT scan reports detected a brain tumour. She was later referred to AIIMS, where she was called thrice and was later given a surgery date in August 2018. Ram then took her to Max Hospital in Saket, but her treatment could not come through there. She was later operated in GB Pant and continues to suffer from complications.
AIIMS must have a common waiting list for Patients requiring surgery, irrespective of whether they are able to pay for it or not.
Patients requiring surgery on an urgent basis should be given preference.
Waiting lists should be available in the public domain and must be posted on the institute's website to ensure transparency.
AIIMS is denying surgery and treatment to poor patients who are unable to pay for it, while according special privileges to persons belonging to economically higher strata. This practice is unacceptable and must be abandoned forthwith.
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 "Meera Devi")
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