17-yr-old succumbs to dengue; parents allege negligence, over-charging by hospitals

New Delhi, Sep 18: The dengue scourge claimed the life of another Delhiite, a Class X student, with his family alleging negligence on part of private hospitals and claiming they were charged exorbitant fees.

Rishabh, 17, of New Seemapuri, succumbed to the vector- borne disease yesterday at Max super-speciality hospital in Ghaziabad. [Dengue Fever: Know its symptoms, causes and treatment]

According to the deceased's uncle, Rishabh came down with fever and a severe headache following which he was taken to Red Cross Hospital near Old Seemapuri Border where tests revealed that he had contracted dengue.

While the official dengue toll is yet to be updated, this was the 17th case of a Delhiite succumbing to dengue.

"They (Red Cross Hospital) had no beds and so we took him to Gupta Multispeciality Hospital in Vivek Vihar where they asked us to first deposit money and admitted him on September 14 evening. Next evening, doctors told us that he needs platelet transfusion.

"They also said they can arrange for it and we said yes to that. They charged us a big amount for it," claimed Sulander Pal, adding that although Rishabh's condition "seemed stable" they "did not want to take any risk and went for transfusion".

But, he said, on September 16 at 4 AM, the doctors there told us that we need to shift the boy to a bigger hospital as his condition was deteriorating. The deceased's family claimed that the authorities themselves contacted Max hospital at Patparganj and shifted him there.

"We asked for a bill (at Gupta Hospital), but they didn't give us one," he alleged. "As the boy's condition was deteriorating, we rushed him to Max, where he was admitted in emergency ward.

The same evening, doctors there told us no beds were available in the ICU and asked us to shift him to Max hospital in Ghaziabad.

"At the Ghaziabad Max, Rishabh was admitted in ICU on September 16. He died there last evening. We don't know what medicines they gave but while handing the body, they gave us a hefty bill," claimed Pal.

According to the deceased's uncle, the deceased's father, Ram Kishore, is a security guard and had to borrow money from relatives and friends for the treatment of Rishabh, who was his youngest son.

PTI