PMJAY Angioplasty Deaths Case: Khyati Hospital Chairman arrested

Ahmedabad: The chairman of a private hospital in Gujarat's Ahmedabad has been arrested after evading arrest for more than two months in connection with the deaths of two PMJAY beneficiaries after botched angioplasty procedures in November last year.

Kartik Patel, the chairman of Khyati Multispeciality Hospital, was arrested after he landed at the Ahmedabad airport from Dubai late on Friday night, inspector V B Aal of the Ahmedabad crime branch said, news agency PTI reported.

Seven persons underwent angioplasty, a procedure that widens blocked or narrowed coronary arteries to improve blood flow to the heart, at Khyati Multispeciality Hospital on November 11, last year, following which two of them died, prompting Vastrapur police to register three FIRs the next day.

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The probe showed the hospital organised free check-up camps in villages to convince Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) cardholders to undergo angioplasty despite no medical necessity. They were shown in the "emergency" category to expedite government approval, after which the hospital claimed payments under the Central scheme.

According to the PTI report, with Kartik Patel's arrest, the police have apprehended all nine accused in the case, including the hospital's CEO and the marketing director.

The crime branch arrested Rajshree Kothari, one of the directors of the hospital, when she was on her way to Bhilwara from Kota in Rajasthan in December last year.

According to the police, the hospital prima facie earned Rs 11 crore under the PMJAY last year, with 70 per cent of its income coming from such claims.

Others arrested in the case include cardiologist Dr Prashant Vazirani, hospital CEO Rahul Jain, marketing director Chirag Rajput, marketing executive Milind Patel and his two assistants Pankil Patel and Pratik Bhatt, and directors Rajshree Kothari and Sanjay Patolia.

Police have registered three FIRs, charging the accused with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, forgery, and criminal conspiracy. The FIRs accuse the hospital management and doctors of conspiring to obtain financial benefits under the PMJAY scheme.

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