‘How can one treat a patient lying on the floor'; Dr Haris Chirakkal on Venu's death

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Dr Haris Chirakkal responded to the allegations in connection with the death of Venu of Panmana in Kollam, who died without getting proper treatment at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital. He said starting new medical colleges is of no use but the existing medical colleges need to be strengthened. He was reacting on the death of Venu, who was forced to lie on the floor in the hospital. His response was while speaking at a function in Thiruvananthapuram.

'Venu was forced to lie on the floor. How in modern culture, one can treat a patient lying on the floor. When this was pointed once, a very difficult situation arose.

It is of no use starting many medical colleges. I came to know that about Rs 500 crore was spent on Konni Medical College alone. Still there are no basic facilities. There are still limitations to super specialty treatments in Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam and Alappuzha medical colleges. There are lot of patients.

When Venu was brought to the hospital, he was forced to lie on the floor. There are ward number one, ward number two, ward 28 and so on. No one in today's culture can go there. How can one treat a patient lying on the floor?' asked Dr Haris Chirakkal.

Venu died within hours of sending a voice message to his friend about the lack of timely heart treatment at the medical college hospital. The incident happened on Wednesday night.

Venu, an auto driver, suffered chest pain on Friday night. He was taken to the Chavara Primary Health Center on Saturday morning thinking it was acidity, but the pain did not subside. From there, he was referred to Kollam District Hospital. He was referred to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital after finding a variation in the ECG. His wife Sindhu was also with him. The family's complaint is that an angiogram was not performed even after five days of being taken to the hospital in an ambulance.