Family of deceased patient seeks registration of FIR

Says their relative died due to negligence of hospital staff

KARACHI:

A patient died at a private hospital near Five Star Chowrangi of North Nazimabad due to the alleged negligence of doctors.

The heirs of the deceased took the body to Five Star Chowrangi and staged a protest, demanding the sealing of the hospital. They also wanted the registration of an FIR against the hospital administration under the provisions of murder.

However, after the police assured legal action, the heirs called off the protest and shifted the body to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for an autopsy.

Sources said a patient died due to the alleged negligence of doctors at a private hospital located at Five Star Chowrangi in North Nazimabad within the limits of Noorjahan police station. After the incident, the family of the deceased started protesting.

The hospital administration, with the help of security guards, pushed the family members out of the medical facility and closed its doors.

The deceased was identified as Ali Muhammad, son of Muhammad Idrees, 55. Nazar Muhammad, the brother of the deceased, told The Express Tribune that Ali Muhammad was a resident of house number N-439-5 in Sector 7-C of North Karachi and the father of three children. He worked as an electrician.

He said that Ali Muhammad had abdominal pain and was brought to the Imam Clinic at around 7am on Sunday. The hospital administration collected Rs35,000 for treatment in addition to Rs25,000 which was taken for subsequent laboratory tests.

When all the tests were cleared, the hospital administration asked to admit him for one day so that further assessment could be completed. At night, the hospital management suddenly transferred Ali Muhammad to the intensive care unit.

When he asked the staff, Nazar was told that the patient had been transferred for better treatment. However, the family was not allowed to see him after that.

He said that at 11pm, the doctors said Ali Muhammad had a bowel rupture in his stomach and asked for Rs300,000 to be deposited immediately so that he could be operated on. Nazar continued that Ali Muhammad's wife suggested that the patient be discharged as the family lacked the necessary funding.

Read More: Police told to explain FIR by dead woman

To this, the hospital management said they would discharge him on the payment of Rs20,000 which was allegedly spent on his treatment. Ali Muhammad's wife said she only had Rs10,000 and the management, subsequently, refused to discharge the patient. To add insult to injury, they reportedly started insulting and harassing the women and other members of the family. After a lot of commotion, the management discharged the patient.

Nazar recalled that when they took Ali Muhammad out of Imam Clinic, he died after a short distance and his death was confirmed on arrival at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. After his death, the family returned with the body to Five Star Chowrangi and started protesting by placing the body at the location.

The protesters demanded that the Imam Clinic be sealed and a murder case be registered against the hospital management.

North Nazimabad Police Station Head Constable Afzal tried to stop media representatives from covering the event and reportedly assaulted the cameramen of two different private channels. He also broke the cameras of one of the TV channels.

Upon receiving a report of the incident, DSP Shahra-e-Noor Jahan and SHO Shahra-e-Noor Jahan reached the spot. DSP Shahra-e-Noor Jahan Shakeel assured the protesters that legal action would be taken against the perpetrators for negligence.

He said that the postmortem of the deceased Ali Muhammad would be conducted under the supervision of the police. "The case will be registered after the postmortem and other legal proceedings. The whole matter will be brought to the notice of Sindh Healthcare Commission," the DSP assured.

The heirs of the deceased ended the protest on the assurance of full cooperation from DSP and SHO Shahra-e-Noorjahan and the body was shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital via Edhi Ambulance for postmortem.

The hospital management held the position that the family members voluntarily transferred the patient to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. They said the patient was brought to the hospital at 12 noon. "The patient was admitted in the hospital with the complaint of stomach ache. When the patient's condition worsened, he was shifted to the ICU," a hospital official claimed.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 30^th, 2022.