A pregnant woman passed away after she was allegedly refused treatment in a hospital in the Tumakuru district of Karnataka for not having an Aadhaar card or Taayi (maternity) card.
The doctor and hospital staff allegedly refused to admit the 30-year-old woman who was pregnant with twins.
Kasturi was a labourer hailing from Tamil Nadu and could not arrange money for an ambulance to travel to Bengaluru. She returned home from the hospital on Wednesday night and went into labour the next morning.
Reportedly, Kasturi had taken the help of her neighbours to raise money for the delivery and they had sent her to the hospital in a rickshaw. The neighbours alleged that the doctors and hospital staff refused to admit her and sent her back home even though she was in pain.
The neighbours further told the Press Trust of India that the doctor told Kasturi that she would write a slip referring her to Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru.
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Pregnant Woman Dies
Kasturi developed excessive bleeding after she gave birth to a male boy and passed away before delivering the second baby. She and her newborn twins passed away.
Kasturi is survived by her six-year-old daughter. She was a resident of Bharathi Nagar in Tumakuru and worked as a construction labourer in Bengaluru, as did her late husband. Four months ago, Kasturi’s husband died by suicide and she moved to Tumakuru with her daughter.
The hospital staff allegedly turned her away despite repeated pleas. However, a report submitted by the district surgeon to the health commissioner claims she refused to undergo tests and treatments at the hospital.
Health Commissioner D Randeep suspended a doctor and three staffers.
Health Minister K Sudhakar vowed that strict action would be taken against those responsible and would constitute a three-member committee to conduct an enquiry. Sudhakar said that if a person came to a hospital then the first priority should be the treatment of the patient rather than documents. He also said that documents were not required to admit a patient.
The three-member committee will be headed by the health commissioner to conduct a departmental enquiry and would submit a report in 2 weeks.
Anil Kumar TK, Principal Secretary (Health & Family Welfare) said that an Aadhaar card or maternity card is not necessary for admission to government hospitals.
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