First, missing dengue patient found dead, now another dies after discharge from hospital

A day after a dengue patient was found dead in the canteen of the civic-run BYL Nair Hospital, another case of an abandoned orthopaedic patient, who died within 20 hours of being discharged from the hospital, has been reported.

Sitaram Badekar, 76, an abandoned patient from Kamathipura, Nagpada, was admitted to the hospital on July 9, after he fell in his room and fractured his leg. “The patient was given proper treatment and he was supposed to be discharged on July 19. But as he was abandoned, we informed the Nagpada Police to take his custody. Accordingly, on July 23, after police gave the No-Objection Certificate (NOC), he was discharged on the same day,” said Dr Ramesh Bharmal.

He further claimed the hospital's duty ends once the patients have been discharged from the hospital. “Before getting discharged, the patient was completely stable and he was walking on his own after surgery. However, on July 24, he was rushed back to the casualty ward of the hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival,” Dr Bharmal said.

Police were unable to provide information on the whereabouts of Badekar after he was discharged from hospital.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has asked the hospital to submit complete reports of both patients within a week. “We will investigate the matter as it is the second such case reported from the same hospital,” said Dr Avinash Supe, Director of Medical Education and major civic hospitals.

On July 23, a 60-year-old dengue patient who went missing from the hospital was found dead in a canteen inside the hospital premises after a 90-minute search. The cause of his death was "bilateral pulmonary hemorrhage". The Agripada police station has filed an accidental death report.