MISSING PATIENT DIED FOUR DAYS AFTER ADMISSION, PROBE REVEALS

: Initial investigation revealed that a 64-year-old Covid patient who was thought to have gone missing from the Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial (LLRM) Medical College in Meerut had actually died four days after his admission in the Covid ward on April 21 and the medical staff kept informing his daughter about the health of another patient till May 3 due to confusion over his similar name, LLRM Medical College principal Dr Gyanendra Kumar said on Sunday.

As there was no record of the patient’s contact number on his file, his body was cremated as an unidentified one, the principal said. Dr Gyanendra Kumar admitted that it was a grave mistake. The doctor and staff on duty could have traced the contact number of the patient, but they didn’t do so, he said. Although the medical staff were overburdened, such carelessness could not be tolerated, he added.

Dr Kumar said a three-member committee was still investigating the case and stern action would be initiated against those found responsible for such callousness. He further said that he will ensure that such blunders did not recur.

Santosh Kumar, 64, a resident of Rajnagar extension in Ghaziabad, was admitted in the Covid ward of LLRM Medical College in Meerut on April 21. His daughter Shivangi alleged that the ward staff kept informing her about her father’s condition till May 3 morning but told her the same evening that no such patient was admitted in the ward.

Shivangi then approached the medical college to enquire about the matter the same day. She was taken to the Covid ward and other wards to locate her father, but she couldn’t find him.

She then sought help from chief minister Yogi Adityanath through the media in a bid to trace her father.

Meanwhile, LLRM Medical College principal Dr Gyanendra Kumar constituted a team of three doctors to investigate the matter on Thursday. The principal revealed the initial findings on Sunday.

A 3-MEMBER PANEL WAS PROBING THE CASE AND STERN ACTION WOULD BE INITIATED AGAINST THOSE FOUND RESPONSIBLE, SAID THE MED COLLEGE PRINCIPAL DR GYANENDRA KUMAR