Patient dies after PM security blocks his way to Emergency

The Verma family from Ambala Cantonment said they managed to get through the security cordon only after one of the security personnel got into their vehicle. Employed in a jewellery shop,Verma is survived by wife Richa and two sons,aged six and 12.

The Prime Minister was at the PGI from 11.30 am to 1 pm as chief guest at the institute’s annual convocation. The venue of the ceremony was Bhargava Auditorium,located opposite the emergency block of the hospital. A premier institute catering to the region,the PGI is visited by hundreds everyday.

The PGI,meanwhile,denied the family’s claim,saying no patient was denied entry from any gate,especially to the emergency. In a statement,the institute claimed Verma had been “brought dead” to the emergency OPD around noon. “The patient had a history of end-stage kidney disease. He had been on maintenance hemodialysis in a private hospital. Today he was taken to a private hospital in Chandigarh for hemodialysis,following which his condition deteriorated. When brought to PGI emergency,he was found dead.”

The Vermas have handed a written complaint to Director General of Police SK Jain,demanding action against securitymen deployed at the PGI.

In a press released issued later,Chandigarh Police said an executive magistrate had been asked to conduct an inquiry into the matter but “as per the family and PGI doctors,the cause of death was complications arising out of diabetes and renal failure.”’

But Verma’s relative Ruchi said: “My husband’s uncle was a kidney patient for the last few years and was undergoing dialysis at a private hospital in Sector 35 (Chandigarh). Even today,we came for his dialysis. But the doctors there told us he needed to be put on oxygen and that later in the day he could be brought back for dialysis. But when we reached the PGI,nobody would let us in. It took us almost an hour-and-half to reach the emergency where my uncle started crying,saying he was in acute pain.”

Arun Verma,sister-in-law of the patient,said the family broke down on seeing Verma’s condition and this finally made one of the private security guards take pity on them. “He sat with us in our car and took us to the emergency. I am sure if the doctors had attended to him in time,he would have been alive.”

Contesting the family’s claim,the PGI said that from 10 am to 1 pm — around the time Verma was brought to the hospital — 40 new patients were examined in the emergency OPD. “All medical facilities in the PGI were functioning normally. At no point of time was any hospital facility closed,” it said.