Helpless patients are falling victim to the cruelty of a section of medical staff across the country.
Most of the doctors are not even providing the minimum treatment to patients without a COVID-19 negative report.
Hospitals dedicated for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, are not admitting any patients without a COVID-19 positive report.
As a result, huge numbers of patients are dying every day after moving from hospital to hospital. Many people do not know where they have to go for testing COVID-19. Many people are failing to give their samples even after standing the whole day in the long queues at different sample collecting booths.
Many others are getting results of the tests after a week. Thus, they are dying before getting the reports of COVID-19 tests.
A leader of the Habiganj unit of Jatiya Party, Abdul Monaem Chowdhury died at the Ibn Sina Hospital in the city on Friday. He was admitted in the hospital with a cardiac disease. Earlier, in March this year, doctors at the same hospital, put a stent in his heart .
He was again admitted in the hospital on May 4 with chest pain. Immediately after his admission, doctors told him to do a COVID-19 test. Thus he was kept at the ICU without any treatment.
After a hectic lobbying, his COVID-19 test was possible on May 6. But he died on May 7. His COVID-19 test report was obtained on May 8, and found negative.
There are thousands of such examples where patients were completely deprived of treatment. Prime Minister’s personal physician Professor Dr ABM Abduallah said, “Every patient must get proper treatment in any situation. And conducting tests is the responsibility of the doctors, and not the patients, for the necessary diagnoses.”
Doctors will communicate to ensure necessary tests for the patents , he said adding, doctors will take necessary steps, if they think that the patients might be COVID-19 positive.
But Dr Mustafa Jalal Mohiuddin, President of Bangladesh Medical Association , said, “ COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patents should be given treatment keeping them totally separate, so that every patient gets treatment.”
Depriving someone of treatment is not acceptable at all, he said.
A sister of Jatiya Press Club President and Jugantor Editor, Saiful Islm has been admitted to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
His relatives alleged that doctors do not visit her. Sometimes only some nurses visit the patient. The scenario at other hospitals is almost the same.
DMC Principal, Professor Dr Khan Md Abul Kalam Azad said, “ Now we should treat every patient as COVID-19 positive at first. Every hospital should keep a facility of providing treatment to the COVID-19 patients along with giving treatment to the general patients.”
No patient should be pushed back without treatment, he said.
Licenses of the hospitals that refuse to provide treatment should be canceled, he opined.
Dr Moniruzzman Bhuyian, president of the private hospital, clinic and diagnostic center owners association said,” The clinics where ordinary people go for treatment, must have the facility of COVID-19 testing too.”
Md Abdullah Al Mamun, a Staff Reporter of Bengali daily Shomoyer Alo, describing his terrible experience when he had to visit Dhaka Medical College Hospital on April 9, said said he was forced to return home.
Earlier Aslam Rahman, a staff reporter of Bengali Daily Bhorer Kagoj was brought to the Islami Bank Hospital in the city, but duty doctors did not provide him any treatment. They referred him to the DMCH instantly.
Relatives and colleagues later shifted him to the DMCH. But he had to wait a long time to get treatment. Some staff came to him after he died there. Later, a doctor formally declared him dead.
Thus, he was deprived even of the minimum treatment at the DMCH, the biggest government medical college hospital.
On Saturday, Sushmita Aich, a government doctor said, “ My father Goutam Aich Sarker, an additional secretary died without treatment for kidney disease.”
She alleged that the top government officials died after around a dozen hospitals refused to provide treatment.
On April 6, Sumon Chakma, a Dhaka University student who had survived cancer, died allegedly after doctors denied him treatment at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Mugda General Hospital and IEDCR.
