Kriti Agrawal
The Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) to take immediate action to “Save the life” of a city citizen.
The High Court heard the case of Bhupender Beniwal, a Manimajra resident who had asked the PGIMER to operate on his nephew Saksham Bishnoi, a renal patient.
Saksham claimed that if the surgery is not performed, he will develop an acute kidney infection, which will almost certainly lead to kidney damage.
This is the first occurrence of its kind documented during the Covid-19 outbreak, in which a family sought the Court seeking treatment recommendations.
Saksham developed the condition in April, according to the Court, and the PGIMER scheduled surgery for April 26.
However, he tested positive for Covid-19, preventing the procedure from taking place.
The patient was returned to the PGIMER in May after completing the quarantine period, but the hospital arbitrarily refused to perform the operation, citing Covid-19 limits, according to the Court.
The hospital had set the operation date earlier because of Saksham’s poor condition, and Covid limitations were already in place at the time, according to the petitioner.
The Manimajra resident contended that now that he has fully recovered, he would require the surgical operation recommended by the treating surgeon.
The PGIMER told the Court that specific protocols must be followed before performing the surgery and that if the patient arrives at the emergency room, he would be inspected and assessed for surgery admission.
When the case was set for hearing on Wednesday, the Court told the PGIMER that if the patient tested negative for Covid-19, the operation should be scheduled as soon as feasible.
The Court stated, “It is a sanguine hope that every effort will be done to protect the petitioner’s nephew from any mistreatment.”