BMC to probe HIV+ woman’s death

January 26, 2007

BMC to probe HIV+ woman's death

Chitrangada Choudhury

Mumbai, January 24, 2007: Two weeks after the Hindustan Times

reported the death of 26-year-old HIV patient Vandana Patel (name

changed), whose family alleged, was denied admission by apathetic

staff at the civic Bhagwati Hospital, the BMC has written to the

hospitals of the area, to probe her death.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Kishore Gajbhiye said, " On the

basis of the newspaper report I have written to the Chief Medical

Superintendent to ascertain the facts of the case, and whether the

lady was denied admission. The probe into her death should not take

more than two weeks. "

Patel, an outreach worker for HIV-positive women like herself, died

on January 9. Her husband Suresh (name changed), also affected by

HIV, alleged she was denied admission to Bhagwati Hospital when he

took her there on the night of January 8.

" The doctor on duty spoke roughly to her, asking her questions when

she was in no position to speak, and just wrote out a prescription

before asking us to leave despite my pleas, " he had told HT.

Vandana died the next noon while being rushed to JJ Hospital, 30 km

away from her home in the Malwani slum Gaikwad Nagar. Speaking to the

paper, Bhagwati's Deputy Medical Superintendent Dr V Bhatt had

however denied that any patient was turned away.

Prabha Desai, a professor at Patkar College and head of the Sanmitra

Trust, which works in AIDS care and prevention in the sprawling red-

light quarter of Malad's Malwani slum, and had just hired Vandana,

said, " I have been summoned by hospital authorities today and will

file a formal complaint about the negligence of the doctor-on-duty. "

Desai added that to ensure such preventable deaths do not occur

again, her trust will also demand for an in-camera hearing of HIV+

patients, especially women, as part of the probe, since medical staff

flouted BM's special directives to not discriminate against HIV +

patients.

Desai elaborated, " These patients are subjected by staff to a host of

embarrassing questions, especially about their sexual history, which

are unnecessary during an emergency admission. Their experiences must

be put on record so that the probe into Vandana's death can be a

learning and reformative exercise for the BMC, and not merely a witch

hunt. "

E-mail Chitrangada Choudhury: chitrangada.choudhury@...

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