Kerala: Elderly COVID-19 patient tied to hospital bed; Congress writes to Health Minister

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic where the doctors, nurses and frontline workers are considered next to God for their selfless services amid the pandemic, a shocking incident has come to light in which an elderly COVID-19 patient was allegedly tied to the bed at Thrissur Government Medical College Hospital in Kerala. 

Taking note of the disheartening incident, Congress Lok Sabha MP TN Prathapan in a letter to Health Minister KK Shailaja has demanded an enquiry into an incident. Prathapan said that 67-year-old COVID-19 patient, Kunjubheevi, was shifted to the medical college hospital from a first-line treatment centre after her condition deteriorated and instead of using side rails, she was tied to the bed. Prathapan in his letter also stated that counselling services to reduce the mental stress of COVID-19 patients were also not available in the medical college.

The incident came to notice after another patient of the hospital made a video of the aged woman lying on the floor after falling from the bed with her one hand still tied to the bed.

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Grandson of lady demands stringent action

Patient's grandson Farshadh VA has also escalated the matter to the District Medical Officer (DMO) and demanded stringent action against those responsible for the inhuman treatment towards his grandmother. He said his grandmother suffered head injuries and blood loss after falling from the bed.

"My grandmother Kunjubheevi was admitted to Medical College Thrissur on October 20, 2020, from Kuttannalloor Covid centre... No proper safety measures were taken by the hospital and nursing staff. The patient was kept in a bed without any side rails. Instead of using arm restraints, she was tied with cotton strings. She fell from the bed and suffered a head injury and blood loss. We have photos and videos as evidence," he stated in the complaint to the DMO.

Kerala Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said that Kerala was witnessing a string of cases of medical negligence and alleged that the government was trying to hide such incidents from the people.

"Kerala is witnessing a string of cases of medical negligence, and what is even more shocking is that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government is trying to hide this from the general public and silencing people who raise their voice against this. The Kalamassery Medical College saw the death of a patient named Harris solely because his tube was not connected to a ventilator," he alleged.

Kerala had witnessed a surge in the COVID-19 cases recently. At present, the total number of COVID-19 infections in the state stands at 3,77,834 while the state has 95,760 active cases with 2,80,793 recoveries and 1,281 have succumbed to the virus.

(With ANI inputs)

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