Gujarat HC forms panel to probe denial of medical aid to pregnant women by two hospitals

Ahmedabad: Slamming two hospitals in the city that allegedly denied treatment to pregnant women last year, the Gujarat High Court has set up a committee to be headed by retired justice to look into two incidents. 

The division bench comprising Chief Justice Arvind Kumar and Justice A.J. Shastri, while hearing a Public Interest Litigation observed on Tuesday, "We will appoint an independent panel, as we are seeing too many such incidents where unless an amount is paid, hospitals don't admit patients...We want an independent authority to examine the issue."

The court was hearing a PIL seeking its directions for penal and disciplinary action against hospital authorities for denying medical aid to pregnant women, with the PIL citing two such incidents in the recent past.

Also read- Gujarat: HC Notice To Govt, Hospitals For Denying Emergency Treatment To 2 Women In Labor

The court has appointed a three-member committee, which will be led by retired Justice Harsha Devani of the High Court. The other two members are Dr. Lavina Sinha, Deputy Commissioner of Police for Ahmedabad, who is also a licenced physician, and IAS Ramya Mohan, Mission Director of the National Health Mission. To assist the court on the matter Asim Pandya has been appointed as amicus curiae.

The committee will look into the two incidents in detail, prepare a detailed report and suggest remedies to the court.

Medical Dialogues team had reported about the incident last year, where the Gujarat HC previously issued notices to the state government and the two hospitals seeking their response on the two incidents while considering a PIL that sought the formation of rules for human rights and for the treatment of pregnant women and children in an emergency.

In the first incident, a poor woman had to go through labor and ultimately had to give birth on the stairs of Mirani hospital in Tarapur taluka of Anand district in January. She had to wait outside the hospital in extreme cold as the hospital allegedly demanded Rs 42,000 fee which she could not pay.

The next incident occurred in February at LG Hospital where a woman who was having contractions was refused treatment by the staff. She gave birth on the hospital premises but the child could not survive. The PIL demanded that government should issue directions to form necessary rules so that pregnant women can be immediately admitted and provided treatment in different facilities.

On January 2023, the counsel for LG Hospital, Aishwarya Gupta submitted before the Division bench that an internal inquiry was conducted on the same day and consequently a report was submitted to the Gujarat Medical Council as well as the Gujarat State Human Rights Commission.

Referring to the Inquiry report, the hospital submitted that sonography was conducted on the woman and when the doctor came to check on the patient at around 6 am, she was not on bed.

However, the HC was not convinced with such an explanation and slammed the hospitals for denying medical care to those pregnant women. 

Also read- Gujarat HC Slams Ahmedabad Hospital For Denying Care To Pregnant Woman