No government check on private hospitals in handling dengue patients has put several precious lives at risk, with health establishments across the provincial capital minting money with impunity, while the Punjab government is keeping mum over their “negligence”, Pakistan Today has learnt.
The death of 18-year-old Hamna Adeeb on the third day of Eid in National Hospital Defence has blown the lid off the unrestrained “mishandling” of dengue cases continuing in private health establishments even in posh areas of the metropolitan.
Hamna, an A-Levels student at LGS Paragon, was diagnosed with dengue on August 28. She was taken to National Hospital Defence regularly for treatment where doctors prescribed her with different medicines, but was never admitted or transfused blood.
“On Friday, we took her to National Hospital again where doctors on duty prescribed a drip of aspirin for her. Somehow I protested and did not let them give her aspirin. They however gave her some treatment and asked us to take her back but back home she collapsed after sometime. We rushed back to the hospital where she died,” Hamna’s father told Pakistan Today.
He further said, “No doctor asked us to admit her in the hospital or arrange blood for transfusion despite her being diagnosed with dengue. The specialists were not available because of Eid and we even tried to contact them on their cell phones but in vain. I could see that she was getting weaker with every passing day and only because of the doctor’s negligence I lost my daughter. The hospital administration has even taken detailed prescriptions after her death.”
The Health Department has already directed all private and public health establishments to report the number of dengue cases on a daily basis, however the private health establishments have been “hoodwinking” the government in reporting the figures.
A staffer in the National Hospital emergency, seeking anonymity, revealed that Hamna was brought twice to the emergency on Friday as per the hospital’s record. She said she had dengue and was attended by Dr Nighat. She further said the hospital administration had barred them to speak on the case to anyone from the media.
CDC Director Malik Mubashar said the government had issued directions to private and public hospitals to check the spreading epidemic, however, Hamna’s death was not reported to the government. He said National Hospital Defence, Ghurki Hospital, Surgimed Hospital and Ittefaq Hospital were all reporting cases on a daily basis but the death was not reported.
Health Secretary Jehanzeb Khan further said the issue of putting a check on private hospitals was very important and the government needed to get in and hold accountable those responsible for such negligence. He further said a meeting of all the heads of private hospitals will be called to find a solution to this problem. “There is no legal framework to fill the gap, as the government has asked them to monitor the dengue situation but more needs to be done to monitor the treatment facilities which should also be brought under check,” Khan added.
However, the hospital administration told Pakistan Today that Hamna was brought to the hospital only for 15 minutes and was put on a ventilator when she was pronounced dead. They claimed the family brought her to the hospital very late.
why cant govenment take futther steps to stop dengue virus. its their fault why disease spreading so wide spread. i have 5 member of the familily admitted during eid. two member of our family had transfusion twice. its hard to arrange blood. mashallah i came from well supported family but poor will not be able to survive in this situstion as it cost 26000Rs just to trusfused the blood even if u have a donor. i plead and beg to our politian and governor to take neceaary action to stop this virus.
Anyone who wants to get rid of these butchers in National Hospital I'm with you guys!
They should take the license of such negligent doctors as first of all they should have known to suspect dengue and if they already knew how could they prescribe Aspirin which works against platlets and here we need platlets, and if the kids symptoms were getting worse day by day why couldnt they reach a diagnosis and transfuse her with blood,they could have easily known that her platlet count was reducing . May Allah rest her soul in peace. Ameen
Waseem Akram's wife also died because of the criminal negligence of the staff of National Hospital. I wonder why the hospital is still operating. They are playing with precious human lives.
pakistan govt sucks. they should have taken proper precautions b4 hand. they sprayed the mossquito spray in july while it was supposed to be sprayed in march. Dengue is soooo wide spread dis year and its all dere fault. And further more, the hospitals delay the treatment as much as possible to earn more money frm patients, ie per visit, room charges, so the more they delay the more money they get. The people in our country are soo corrupt, theyve all forgotten dere real duties. shame on the doctors for not saving ppls lives, which should be dere priority instead of earning money by delaying the treatment as much as possible. And dere not repoting the correct figure of dengue patients in there hospital to the govt. how corrupt. Im saying this becuase this happend to my cuzn. She has dengue and is in a private hospitals.
The hospital's version is false. Hamna's dad argued with the hospital for not allowing her to be admitted. We have witnesses to confirm that her family tried to get her admitted and the doctors (butchers) refused by saying that her condition was not serious enough to admit. They did not bring her 15 minutes before. They had hamna hours before and after giving her the drip (which we think was improperly injected) they released her. when her dad brought her back again, they were clueless, heartless and could care less about her emergency, they were asking permission to put her on ventilater, permission? don't these buthcers have a medical protocole they follow? why did they need permission to save a life. I am supporting the idea of the mass demonstration in front of this butchery called National Hospital. Please let me know what kind of legal and moral help you guys need to realize this demonstration and call the media and get supreme cour involved. The Hospital Mafia is strong but so was Qaddafi and Hosni Mubarak, where there is will there is a way. [email protected]
Totally agreed najam uncle
Oh My God Please Forgive our mistakes and we give strength power against Dengue Virus. I request to all muslims please pray to god for this disease and also pray for our government he opened their eyes.
Imran Khan (Lahore)
its a very tragic news indeed and there is no substitute for losing a child,yet it is improper to make judgements regarding professionals pertaining to matters we have little knowledge of.Doctors are neither col.qaddafi nor husni mubarik and they are not butchers by any standards.Every case must be looked into by analyzing its merits and then commented upon.Its important and worthwhile to find out about the platelet count this child presented with before labelling the entire community as butchers and criminals.All my sympathies and prayers for the parents of this poor child who lost her life to this epidemic of a disease.
i happen to be a doctor and i have 5 members of my family who were treated for dengue at the above mentioned facility.All have recovered well in time.I am shocked to learn about this tragedy.However,i agree with aslam that it is important to know the platelet count of the child when she presented to the emergency and why she was not admitted if her platelet count was so low.Secondly its a bitter and painful reality that dengue patient especially those who are recovering are the ones recieving treatment at private hospitals and that is the real tragedy,the STATE should have anticipated this epidemic and should have been well prepared because we already saw and experienced this epidemic last year,therefore throwing the blame and garbage right or left would not be the best way to address the situation.As a professional doctor however i strongly believe that if there has been negligance it must be accounted for and looked into.
The responsibles should be punished, punished hard. Health related issues never discussed and addressed seriously in Pakistan. The life has no value in my beloved country. Doctors and hospitals run their business like grocery stores.
Sametime we the Pakistani people are equally responsible for the wide spread of this disease. A car owner washes his car and leaves puddles all over the street. People through garbage anywhere irresponsibly. Animals waste can be seen in streets for days. We buy expensive dresses but not the mosquito net.
Now wake up my dear Pakistanis, take everything seriously.
Awais
cavalary hospital and family hospital are looting patients suffering from dengue patients.CAVALARY HOSPITAL IS ON TOP.NO LAB IS DOING FREE TESTS .CM ORDERED BUT NO ACTION.
what faggots… Now they are blaming the family of Hamna for not bringing her on time to the hospital…!!!! They did this to a father, a mother, a sister and a brother and above all they are lieing aswell and didnt report the demise of Hamna. Dr.Nighat you and ur hospital's team will pay for this.
My mother was also suffering from dengue few days back. Her condition was severe from day 1. We took her to 2 different hospitals and none of them diagnosed her with dengue. Her platlatte level was still droping. we brought her to National Hospital defence with platlatte level 22 and the doctor on duty just induced her a drip and told us to take her home and consult with a medical specialist. She couldnt even move ans was constantly fainting. Then we brought her to an other private clinic where she was treated and now she has recovered. National Hospital sucks and they should be blamed for Hamna's death.
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