The Mirror reports of March 11 and 12, which prompted the High Court action. The baby is being treated at Parel’s Wadia Hospital.
Shocking that the poor cannot avail of medical aid without media's help, says High Court.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday turned the Mumbai Mirror reports on the five-month-old Nalla Sopara baby, who'd been surviving in a thermocol icebox since October after being turned away by KEM and Nair hospitals, into a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL).
Referring to Mumbai Mirror's March 11 front page report, 'In need of incubator, this 5-month-old is surviving in icebox', a division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Manoj Sanklecha said the incident was "shocking" and noted that it was a private hospital that came forward to help the family.
"It is unfortunate that people who cannot afford private hospitals don't get treatment at public hospitals without intervention of the media," the bench said, while seeking a reply from the authorities by March 27.
Pulling up the state government and BMC for lack of incubators at public hospitals, the bench said, "In view of the above facts reported in the Mumbai Mirror reports, it is obvious that the public hospitals in the city are awfully short of neonatal ICU beds. The inaction on the part of the authorities requires to be seriously noted and the authorities need to be activated to take immediate steps for getting adequate number of neonatal ICU beds."
The court further observed that necessary institutional arrangements were required to be made by BMC as well as the state "to see that people get necessary medical treatment at public hospitals in their own right."
Those made respondents in the PIL are secretary of the Public Health & Welfare Department, BMC commissioner Sitaram Kunte, and the deans of KEM Hospital, Nair Hospital and Sion Hospital.
The court, in fact, expanded the scope of the PIL to the entire state, and directed the Public Health & Welfare Department secretary to file an affidavit indicating whether adequate number of neonatal ICU beds were available in public hospitals in other parts of the state.
Quoting from Mirror reports, the order observes that KEM Hospital has a waiting list of 750 applicants, while the corresponding number for Nair Hospital is 274. The court also took note of the fact that Mumbai's three major civic hospitals --KEM, Sion and Nair hospitals -- have a total of merely 100 neonatal ICU beds.
The health/civic authorities in Mumbai have now been asked to show cause as to why appropriate directions should not be issued to them in light of the facts highlighted in Mumbai Mirror reports about non--availability of adequate number of neonatal ICU beds in public hospitals. The case will now be heard on March 27.
Help keeps pouring in
Meanwhile, the Wadia Hospital CEO, Dr Minnie Bodhanwala, said that an anonymous donor sent in a cheque of Rs 15,000 towards the baby's treatment, while another person approached the hospital saying he wanted to deposit Rs 2,000 in cash. The hospital has already announced it will not charge the baby's parents any money.
"The baby is recovering well. His potassium levels have been restored and we are conducting a detailed sonography, besides hearing tests and ENT tests to determine his condition," Bodhanwala said, adding that the hospital has also been getting calls from outside the city. "One of the callers was from Delhi, promising to help the baby in any way possible," Bodhanwala said.
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday turned the Mumbai Mirror reports on the five-month-old Nalla Sopara baby, who'd been surviving in a thermocol icebox since October after being turned away by KEM and Nair hospitals, into a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL).
Referring to Mumbai Mirror's March 11 front page report, 'In need of incubator, this 5-month-old is surviving in icebox', a division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Manoj Sanklecha said the incident was "shocking" and noted that it was a private hospital that came forward to help the family.
"It is unfortunate that people who cannot afford private hospitals don't get treatment at public hospitals without intervention of the media," the bench said, while seeking a reply from the authorities by March 27.
Pulling up the state government and BMC for lack of incubators at public hospitals, the bench said, "In view of the above facts reported in the Mumbai Mirror reports, it is obvious that the public hospitals in the city are awfully short of neonatal ICU beds. The inaction on the part of the authorities requires to be seriously noted and the authorities need to be activated to take immediate steps for getting adequate number of neonatal ICU beds."
The court further observed that necessary institutional arrangements were required to be made by BMC as well as the state "to see that people get necessary medical treatment at public hospitals in their own right."
Those made respondents in the PIL are secretary of the Public Health & Welfare Department, BMC commissioner Sitaram Kunte, and the deans of KEM Hospital, Nair Hospital and Sion Hospital.
The court, in fact, expanded the scope of the PIL to the entire state, and directed the Public Health & Welfare Department secretary to file an affidavit indicating whether adequate number of neonatal ICU beds were available in public hospitals in other parts of the state.
Quoting from Mirror reports, the order observes that KEM Hospital has a waiting list of 750 applicants, while the corresponding number for Nair Hospital is 274. The court also took note of the fact that Mumbai's three major civic hospitals --KEM, Sion and Nair hospitals -- have a total of merely 100 neonatal ICU beds.
The health/civic authorities in Mumbai have now been asked to show cause as to why appropriate directions should not be issued to them in light of the facts highlighted in Mumbai Mirror reports about non--availability of adequate number of neonatal ICU beds in public hospitals. The case will now be heard on March 27.
Help keeps pouring in
Meanwhile, the Wadia Hospital CEO, Dr Minnie Bodhanwala, said that an anonymous donor sent in a cheque of Rs 15,000 towards the baby's treatment, while another person approached the hospital saying he wanted to deposit Rs 2,000 in cash. The hospital has already announced it will not charge the baby's parents any money.
"The baby is recovering well. His potassium levels have been restored and we are conducting a detailed sonography, besides hearing tests and ENT tests to determine his condition," Bodhanwala said, adding that the hospital has also been getting calls from outside the city. "One of the callers was from Delhi, promising to help the baby in any way possible," Bodhanwala said.
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