60-year-old dengue patient goes missing at Nair Hospital, found dead in unused canteen

After suddenly going 'missing' from the general ward of the civic-run Nair Hospital, a 60year-old man from Dharavi was found dead in an unused canteen of the hospital on Monday. The man, a dengue patient, had been admitted on July 22. According to hospital staff, since hundreds of patients were similarly dressed (in hospital-issued clothing), they could not identify the missing man in time.

A civic official blamed it on the monsoon, saying there were so many people getting sick and hospital wards were getting crowded, making it impossible to keep tabs on every patient. “We are accommodating more than 60 patients in a ward which has a capacity of 40. In such chaos it is impossible for a ward boy or nurse to keep an eye on every patient. As soon as we realised the patient was missing we began a search operation,” said the official.

Dean of BY L Nair Hospital Dr Ramesh Bharmal said, “For 90 minutes we searched every corner of the hospital. We finally found him in the old hospital canteen, after which he was immediately rushed to the casualty ward, but was declared dead,” added Dr Bharmal.

According to doctors, the man, Eshan Abdul Galal Sheikh, died of bilateral pulmonary haemorrhage (an advanced stage of dengue haemorrhagic fever) and also had other health issues. “Post mortem reports confirmed he died of bilateral pulmonary haemorrhage. The body has been handed over to the family,” said Dr Bharmal.

A police officer from the Agripada police station, however, questioned how hospital authorities had allowed the patient to leave the ward unaccompanied by relatives. “The patient's son was asked to get medicines from outside for treatment. Immediately after his son went out, Eshan wore his clothes and left the ward without informing any nurse or doctors,” said the officer.

According to hospital staff, since hundreds of patients were similarly dressed (in hospital-issued clothing), they could not identify the missing man in time. A civic official blamed it on the monsoon, saying there were so many people getting sick and hospital wards were getting crowded, making it impossible to keep tabs on every patient.