Ramola's outburst against AMRI

Widow slur on hospital
A STAFF REPORTER
An impromptu news conference and some damning allegations by a VIP visitor to AMRI Hospitals on Friday momentarily shifted the focus from Jyoti Basu’s health to how his protégé Subhas Chakraborty had died in the same ICU last August.

The late CPM leader’s wife Ramola accused AMRI Hospitals, Salt Lake, of “unsatisfactory treatment” during the eight days her cancer-stricken husband was under their care. She said Chakraborty, who died of multi-organ failure at 11.35am on August 3, might have lived longer had the treatment not been “haphazard”.

Ramola’s aides dragged her away after she spoke to reporters for half an hour, listing the reasons why she thought her husband did not receive proper attention. “We had admitted him on July 27 but the medical board was not formed until three days later, that too after we insisted. In the ICU, medicine was administered haphazardly,” Ramola said.

But why didn’t she raise the allegations earlier? “Had I said all this, our supporters would have set the hospital ablaze,” said Ramola.

She claimed some party leaders were not keen that Basu be admitted to AMRI. “But I think that he is being treated properly,” added Ramola. Her outburst came a day after the Prime Minister offered all possible medical help for Basu.

Chakraborty’s family sources said they had urged the hospital to bring in experts from AIIMS, Gangaram and other hospitals, besides finalising plans to shift him to the US for treatment. The tickets were for August 7.

“On July 28 night, he (Chakraborty) was fit enough to demand that he be allowed to attend a cabinet meeting the next day. Junior doctors attending on him administered two Calpol tablets on an empty stomach and a Calmpose injection. He never woke up,” claimed a family member.

Taken aback by the allegations, AMRI appealed to Ramola to file a complaint. “We are open to getting these complaints probed by M.K. Chhetri (chief adviser to the medical board supervising Basu’s treatment),” said superintendent Debashish Sharma.


Ramola Chakraborty's outburst may surprise others but does not surprise me.
AMRI, Suraksha and Apollo in Kolkata have become notorious for fleecing patients.
Their docotrs are given targets as to how much income they should bring to the hospital through patients.
AMRI does not even spare dead patients.
One of my close relatives had his wife admitted in AMRI and although she had died they kept her under a ventilator to show that she was alive and treatment was in progress. It was only when the relatives got suspicious and wanted to call an outside doctor that AMRI realized that their game was up and declared her dead.
I would say Ramola got off very lightly because of her political connections. If Subhash Chakraborty had not been such a high profile personality, he would have remained dead under a ventilator for at least 3 days and the hospital would have minted money.