Refusal glare on hospitals

New Delhi, Sept. 12 (PTI): A couple have jumped to their death in Delhi grieving for their seven-year-old son, who had died of dengue after allegedly being turned away by five private hospitals. The Delhi government today issued notices to these hospitals asking why their registration should not be cancelled, although the state health minister said he couldn't afford to close hospitals with dengue raging in the city. Laxmichandra and Babita Rout, both from Odisha, tied their arms together with a shawl and jumped off a four-storey building near their Lado Sarai home in the early hours of Wednesday. Their only son Avinash had died at Batra Hospital on Tuesday afternoon. The hospitals served with notices are Max in Saket, Moolchand Khairatiram in Lajpat Nagar, Aakash in Malviya Nagar, Saket City, and Irene in Kalkaji. They have a month to reply. Laxmichandra worked with a private company and the family had been living for more than a year in a two-room rented flat, an officer said. He added that the couple had left behind a note in Odiya saying "the decision" to end their lives was theirs. "She (Babita) was saying she wanted to go where her child was," a neighbour, Hemant Kumar, recalled. "But her husband seemed in control. Late in the night, we heard about the incident." He added: "They had said their boy's treatment got delayed as he was denied admission by several hospitals, because of which he died." Max said no patient by the name of Avinash had come to it; Saket City and Moolchand too denied the allegation. Aakash and Irene said they had refused admission because they lacked the required ICU facilities. Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said he had directed the "strictest" action against any violation of an August 28 advisory that made it mandatory for all hospitals and nursing homes to admit dengue patients. The Union health ministry too has ordered an inquiry. The civic body says 1,259 cases of dengue were reported in Delhi this year till September 5, with at least 428 patients arriving in the first five days of the month. Jain said: "In today's situation, I don't have the option of shutting any hospital."