Two weeks after the deaths of two PMJAY beneficiaries following alleged “unnecessary angioplasty” surgeries at Khyati Multispeciality Hospital in Ahmedabad on November 11, the Ahmedabad City Police’s Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) is awaiting a report from the expert committee of cardiologists appointed by the health department to take forward its probe.
The report will probe the veracity of complaints made by three different persons on November 20 at Vastrapur police station into 13 medical camps set up by the hospital in nearby villages in a “very short span of time”. Meanwhile, even as the four directors of the hospital remained absconding, the fifth accused, visiting cardiologist Dr Prashant Vazirani, was sent to judicial custody after his police remand ended on Monday.
3 fresh complaints
In one complaint, a man called Sureshkumar Lakshman Thakor stated that Khyati Hospital had conducted a medical camp in his village, Waghroda in Kadi taluka of Mehsana, on October 10. He said his 85-year-old grandfather had attended the camp and was among the group of people bussed to the hospital in Ahmedabad where he was told his two arteries were blocked.
The elderly man was made to undergo angioplasty and died in the hospital on October 15, said the complaint.
Another complaint was filed by Jitendra Mulji Chavda of Khavad village in Kadi, Mehsana.
He stated that Khyati Hospital had conducted a medical camp in his village on March 5, 2023, where his father Mulji Rama Chavda (85) and mother Champa Chavda (80) were told they had heart problems. They were taken to the hospital along with 10-12 others on March 6. Both allegedly underwent angioplasty surgeries and were discharged on March 7, 2023. On March 20, 2023, Mulji Chavda developed chest pain and was admitted to a hospital where he died on March 23, 2023, said the complaint.
The third complaint was filed by Lakshmi of Vinayakpura village in Kadi, Mehsana. She alleged that Khyati Hospital had conducted a free medical camp in her village on October 6 where her husband, 75-year-old Ganpat Chhagan Vanand, was told he had blocked arteries. He was taken to the hospital in Ahmedabad where he allegedly underwent angiography and angioplasty. While he was still under treatment, his condition deteriorated and he was referred to a hospital where he died on November 4, said the complaint.
All three complainants alleged that the procedures were a result of a fraud perpetrated by the hospital under the PMJAY scheme.
However, the Crime Branch is yet to proceed on these complaints before a health department inquiry. Speaking to The Indian Express, Joint Commissioner of Police (JCP) Crime, Sharad Singhal said, “When it comes to cases regarding medical negligence and their prosecution, we need a written report from the health department, stating that the act committed by the doctor in connivance with Khyati Hospital amounts to culpable homicide not amounting to murder. It is a highly technical case and there is a 2023 Supreme Court judgment that any such criminal case must be preceded by a health department specialist inquiry. We have written to the health department and will await the report.”
The Indian Express has learnt that Kanti Babaldas Patel, one of the 19 who had undergone angiography at Khyati Hospital on November 11, was admitted to the ICU of a hospital on Saturday. His son Kamlesh said, “My father complained of severe uneasiness on November 23…” He remained on ventilator support till Monday evening.
