Dr Basu stepped down anticipating an arrest, following an investigation by the police and a parallel probe by the state health department officials.
One week after the death of Sanjay Roy, a resident of Dankuni in Howrah district, allegedly owing to the medical negligence of Apollo Hospitals, the eastern region director of the hospital, Dr Rupali Basu has resigned.
She was on a holiday in New Zealand when the incident took place and was keeping a tab on it from overseas. On February 24, a day after Roy’s death, TMC leader Madan Mitra lashed out at Apollo Hospitals authorities. Later, a case was initiated by Phoolbagan Police Station under sections 304A (causing death by negligence), 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and 384 (extortion), of the IPC, based on the complaint of Roy’s wife, Ruby Roy.
Sources said that Dr Basu stepped down anticipating an arrest, following an investigation by the police and a parallel probe by the state health department officials. Dr Basu, however, did not answer calls or replied to messages.
Dr N Satyabhama , director (southern region), has replaced Dr Basu, taking additional charge, and Rana Dasgupta has taken charge as CEO of Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, Kolkata.
The six-member committee formed by the health department has already submitted a primary report and sources said that they have found the private hospital guilty of negligence, overcharging and carrying out unnecessary expensive tests on Roy.
Roy had been admitted to Apollo on February 16 after he met with an accident. Looking at the escalating bill of the hospital, which had run up to Rs 7.23 lakh till February 23, his family members decided to shift him to to the state-run SSKM Hospital. Late night on February 23, he was shifted to SSKM, where he breathed his last.
The investigating committee, comprising specialised doctors, have sought all the relevant reports from Apollo as well as SSKM to assess whether the claims made by Apollo regarding the health condition of Roy matched those of SSKM. The committee will submit a final report after the post-mortem report of Roy arrived. The police are scanning the CCTV footage to find out whether Roy’s family was forced to submit fixed deposit certificates when they expressed their inability to pay up the entire amount.
Meanwhile, the state will present the Clinical Establishment Bill on Friday at the Assembly to rein in malpractice by private hospitals. Sources said that the bill would propose that a regulatory commission be set up to take care of complaints of patients within six months of their complaint and the decision of the commission would not be challengeable at a lower court to save time of the litigation. The penalty would range from Rs 3 to 5 lakh, depending on the damage caused to the patient, and Rs 10 lakh in case of death owing to negligence. If need be, property of the hospital can be attached to pay penalty. It might also be proposed that emergency patients be treated first, ahead of a police report, especially in cases of rape and acid attack victims and see that they are not refused under any circumstances. Not adhering to the rules can attract imprisonment of up to three years and the registration of the private hospital can also be cancelled.
The bill would also propose that the hospital not charge anything extra over the package charges. In case of a patient's death, the hospital cannot keep the body if family members of the patient are unable to pay hospital bill.
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