Infirm patient dragged into Nizamabad hospital; video goes viral

A video of an infirm patient being dragged by his parents to the doctor’s room in a hospital has caused shock on social media after the clip went viral

Conflicting claims were raised after a video of an infirm patient being dragged by his parents to the doctor’s room in a hospital caused shock on social media after the clip went viral. The incident allegedly took place due to non-availability of stretchers or wheelchairs at the Nizamabad Government General Hospital.

Reacting to the viral video, Health Minister T. Harish Rao has ordered an inquiry and immediate submission of report by the Director of Medical Education.

According to the patient’s relatives, the incident took place around 10 p.m. on March 31 after the closure of the out-patient department where emergencies and new admissions are registered.

They said that the patient, who was unconscious, was forced to be kept waiting on the floor in the corridor leading to the OP department throughout night. He was made to lie down on floor and dragged into the room by his legs next morning. The medical officer on duty referred the patient to the department dealing with such cases on the second floor of the building.

The patient was again dragged up to the lift and then to the unit on the second floor with the ward boys and other para-medical staff showing no concern, relatives claimed.

The hospital superintendent Pratima Raj, however, reportedly had a different version saying the patient was brought to the hospital at a time when the patient care staff was attending to an emergency at the OP unit. Dr. Raj could not be reached despite several calls by The Hindu.

She was said to have maintained that the staff wasted no time in arranging the stretcher after informing the relatives that the patient had to be shifted to the second floor. However, the patient’s parents did not wait for the arrival of the staff or the stretcher and dragged him to the lift as soon as it landed. The scene was recorded by someone on camera and posted it on social media.