Amid the massive mix-up over the identities of patients in the Hi-Tech Hospital explosion here, the bereaved family of deceased Dilip Samantray held the hospital authorities responsible for his death.
“I had seen my son at the hospital on Friday. His health condition was stated to be stable last night. Even as he was unable to speak, he responded to me by nodding his head when I called him as ‘Dilip’ in the ICU yesterday. We were waiting outside the hospital gate. At around 2 am, the hospital staffs called me and informed that Dilip’s heart was not functioning and his blood pressure level had dropped. I had none with me other than my sister, she went inside and found he is no more,” Dilip’s mother told mediapersons.
Alleging medical negligence, the deceased’s brother said the hospital authorities intentionally killed the patient.
“As Dilip was the sole witness who could expose the entire episode against the hospital, they eliminated him. A week after Dilip’s death, we suddenly came to know that he is alive. We were so happy and had hope that he will return to home after recovery. But things changed overnight. My mother had visited the ICU yesterday and he was normal. The patient, who was alive after battling for six days in critical condition and gave his true identity, what happened to him suddenly? After coming out of the ventilator, he was not given proper treatment. The hospital wanted him to die to conceal its negligence in the treatment in the entire incident,” Dilip’s brother alleged.
“We have been shattered and devastated; do not know what to do. But we will lodge a complaint with police against the hospital that ruined our family,” he said.
A twist in the Hi-Tech Hospital blast case came on Friday after one of the victims undergoing treatment at the hospital claimed himself as Dilip Samantray, who was earlier declared dead. Following his revelation of identity, the hospital authorities came under fire with relatives both Dilip and another deceased who was identified as Jyotiranjan Mallick staged a demonstration alleging body swapping by the hospital.
The confusion over patient’s identity claimed an innocent life in Dilip’s family as his wife hung self after hearing news of his husband’s death.
The body of the person who died following an air-conditioner compressor blast at Hi-Tech Hospital on December 29 was identified as Dilip’s and was handed over to his family which belongs to Harirajpur in Khordha district. After Dilip claimed that he was alive, it came to the fore that the body was not of Dilip’s; rather, Jyotiranjan was the first victim who died in the blast. Finally, Dilip, who revealed the truth, succumbed to his injuries.