According to the news reports, the patient, a resident of Borivali, was admitted to Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali on October 31, complaining of severe abdominal pain. Diagnostic tests, including an ultrasound, indicated sub-acute appendicitis, a condition that generally requires urgent surgical intervention to prevent complications such as infection or rupture. Despite being categorised as an emergency, surgery was not performed immediately.
Instead, the patient was discharged and referred to Cooper Hospital, where doctors reportedly questioned the referral and sent him back. He was then directed to Nair Hospital, where he finally received treatment.
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For the patient, already coping with a chronic and stigmatised health condition, the ordeal was distressing. “I was in pain and needed help. But instead of surgery, I was told to go from one hospital to another,” he said. “Shatabdi is the only civic hospital near my home. Travelling long distances while in pain and scared made everything worse. I kept wondering if it was happening because of my HIV status.” He is now recovering at home, reports Hindustan Times.
The case has raised serious questions about stigma in public healthcare settings, which community health groups say persists despite years of sensitisation programmes. MDACS has launched an inquiry to determine whether the referral chain was medically justified or whether the patient was indirectly denied care due to his HIV status, which would violate the HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Act, 2017.
A senior MDACS official said that they are examining whether the referral was guided by clinical considerations or influenced by any form of discrimination. The official added that findings will be issued once the inquiry is complete and emphasized that no patient should face delays in life-saving care due to their health status.
Inside Shatabdi Hospital, the case has also triggered questions about staffing and administration. Several staffers alleged that senior doctors often leave the hospital after marking attendance, returning later only to record exit biometrics. A staffer stated that basic emergency surgeries are often delayed because senior surgeons are not consistently available and noted that, in this case, the patient’s condition required timely intervention.
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However, speaking to Hindustan Times, Shatabdi Hospital’s medical superintendent, Dr Ajay Gupta, denied any lapse in care. He stated that the decision to refer the patient was based solely on clinical considerations. “The patient required an emergency appendectomy. However, due to his concurrent medical condition and because our operating theatre was undergoing scheduled sterilisation that day, we referred him to a higher centre,” he said. “There was no intent to deny treatment.”
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