4 years on, case against Haridwar hospital for 5 Covid deaths | Dehradun News
ROORKEE: A case has been registered against a private hospital in Haridwar for alleged negligence that led to the deaths of four patients, including a 70-year-old woman, during the second wave of Covid-19 in 2021, officials said on Thursday.
“Based on a complaint from the chief medical officer’s (CMO) nodal officer, Dr Anil Kumar Verma, we have filed a case against Vinay Vishal Healthcare under BNS sections 177 (furnishing false information to a public servant), 304-A (causing death by negligence) and 336 (acts endangering human life) on Wednesday,” said Inspector Amarjeet Singh, in charge of Gangnahar police station, Roorkee.
The matter dates back to May 2021, when the hospital had 85 patients, all on oxygen support. On the night of May 4, the facility experienced an oxygen supply disruption for nearly 45 minutes, resulting in the deaths of five patients. The incident sparked widespread outrage across the state, prompting then-chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat to order a high-level inquiry by the district administration.
The hospital management had claimed that they alerted the local administration and the concerned nodal officer over the phone at 10 pm about the lack of oxygen backup. However, the administration later found that the hospital had only sent the request via WhatsApp, raising questions about its handling of the crisis.
Following the incident, then-district magistrate C Ravishankar ordered a magisterial inquiry, led by then-joint magistrate Namami Bansal, which concluded in Nov 2021. The inquiry found that “the hospital management had misrepresented facts to the administration and engaged in negative reporting, defaming both the govt and local authorities while creating public panic.”
When queried, Dr Vishal Ghai, a senior official at the hospital, told TOI, “Since this case is four years old and I am not even aware of any FIR being filed, I cannot comment on it at this moment. However, we will fully cooperate with the police investigation.”
