Two Die After Ahmedabad Hospital Performs Angioplasty 'Without Consent', Health Minister Orders Probe

Villagers alleged that the hospital kept the relatives of the patients in the dark and performed angioplasty to raise medical bills under Ayushman Bharat scheme

Ahmedabad:Two persons died and five others are on ventilator support after undergoing angioplasty in Khyati Multi Specialty Hospital in Ahmedabad resulting which, irate relatives created a ruckus alleging that the procedure was conducted without their consent. State health minister Rishikesh Patel has ordered an inquiry.

The deceased have been identified as Senma Nagarbhai and Mahesh Barot. Their relatives said they neither had any family history of a heart condition nor suffered from any major disease. "They were brought for examination and angioplasty was performed without informing us," a relative said.

They said that Khyati Hospital organised a free health checkup camp in Borisna village of Kadi taluka and around 80 to 90 people were examined. Among them, 19 people were brought to Khyati Hospital by ambulance for treatment. An angioplasty was performed on 12 of the 19 patients and two of them died.

The deceased were enrolled under the Ayushman Bharat's Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), which provides free treatment of upto Rs 5 lakh per year. Villagers alleged that the hospital took advantage of the government scheme and performed the procedure without informing the relatives and thereby raised medical bills amounting to Rs 1.28 lakh under the scheme.

On information about the two deaths, relatives and villagers, including the sarpanch came to the hospital. They said that despite trying to approach the hospital authorities neither any staff nor doctor met them. After which, the hospital was vandalised by the angry family members.

State Health Minister Rishikesh Patel has ordered an investigation into the matter while Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) Health Officer Bhavin Solanki visited the hospital. Solanki said that the complaint of the relatives will be accepted by the health department and AMC will probe into it.

Solanki said he has tried to contact the hospital management over telephone but there has been no talk with the management till now. "As per norm, no operation can be done without family's consent. Action will be taken after speaking to the hospital management," he added.

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