Amid allegations that four patients died owing to acute shortage of medical oxygen at Thane’s Vedanta Hospital, the Maharashtra Government on Monday ordered an inquiry into the circumstances leading to the death of four patients at the hospital.
Within hours after four patients died at Vedanta Hospital located at Thane’s Vartak Nagar locality, the family members made an issue and claimed that their near and dear ones died due to lack of Oxygen.
Before long, Opposition BJP legislator Niranjan Dhavkare visited the Vedanta hospital, made enquiries and demanded a comprehensive inquiry against the hospital authorities. Local MNS workers staged a protest outside the hospital.
Talking to media persons after the visit to the hospital, Dhavkare said: “It is unfortunate that four patients have died at the Vedanta Hospital due to lack of medical Oxygen supplies. We demand a comprehensive inquiry into the incident. Those responsible for the deaths should be punished. It is also a must that the hospital authorities do not charge anything for the treatment undergone by the deceased patients at the hospital”.
State’s Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, who is also the Guardian Minister for Thane district, and Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad announced a high-level inquiry into the incident.
Shinde said that the state government had appointed Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation (BNMC) Commissioner Pankaj Ashiya to conduct an inquiry into the cause of four patients’ death and submit a report to the government
"We are making all possible efforts to overcome the shortage of medical Oxygen by way of procuring stocks of life-saving gas from other states and oxygen-filling facilities via train and flight,” Shinde said.
Monday’s was the second instance where the bereaved family members have staged protests at hospitals in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) over the death of their relatives owing to medical oxygen shortage there.
It may be recalled that amid reports that as many as Covid-19 patients had died at Vasai, a satellite town of Mumbai, following shortage of medical oxygen, the members of bereaved families had on April 13 staged a massive protest at Vinayaka Hospital in Nalasopara, where the maximum deaths have been reported. So much so that the hospital authorities requisitioned the help of the local police to calm down fried tempers of the affected relatives of Covid-19 patients.