When Anirudh Naik heard that his friend, Rashmi Ranjan Suna was admitted to Himadri hospital he was completely surprised because time and again Rashmi himself had warned Naik against going there. In a previous instance, Ranjan had sought treatment at the hospital and had had a very bad experience, ever since he had warned all his friends against the place. Now, this very hospital is being blamed for the death of the PhD student from the University of Hyderabad.
Ranjan's roommate who accompanied him to the health centre also informed his friends that when the student was told to seek further treatment at Himadri, he requested the doctor to refer a different hospital. "Both Ranjan and the roommate had asked the doctor to suggest a different hospital but they refused, saying it was just a fever and there was nothing wrong with being treated at Himadri," another friend of Ranjan told Edex.
As the previous news reports have said, Ranjan was then taken to Himadri hospital and they ran a dengue check on him that came back negative. Sriram (name changed) said he was surprised with the results because Ranjan's platelet count was so low, "I'm not a medical expert but I knew that when people contracted dengue, their platelet count went down drastically. When I enquired with the doctors they said that Ranjan had tested positive for Typhoid and prescribed antibiotics for that and I'm not sure but I think that might have worsened it," he said.
Sriram was with Ranjan throughout his stay at Himadri and said that Ranjan himself asked for a transfer to another hospital, "He complained that neither the doctors or the nurses were taking care of him properly, so I finally asked the doctors to transfer him to Citizens hospital. Just that process took up so much time because they weren't giving us the bills on time. They sent me from one place to another because they didn't want him to get discharged," he claimed. The student was also charged an amount of Rs 34,000 which he had to pay from on his own.
After Ranjan was finally discharged, he was taken to Citizens Hospital for treatment based on the previous reports. When his condition worsened, Sriram requested a second dengue test — it came back positive. "The doctors said that it was extremely strange that the same results didn't reflect the previous report because his health had already deteriorated so much by then," Sriram recalled. On November 25, Ranjan passed away.
The students on campus have been protesting against the management alleging medical negligence since Ranjan's passing. The hospital claims no fault on their part but the University has put together a committee to inquire into the death of the student. The terms of the investigation would be - To inquire into the circumstances that resulted in the death of Rashmi Ranjan – procedural and administrative lapses; to inquire how and why Himagiri Hospital – a blacklisted hospital was again white-listed; to suggest measures to improve the overall functioning of the Health Centre. The committee consists of three professors, the dean of student welfare, the chief warden, external member and two Student Union representatives.
However, the students are also demanding a compensation from the University as Ranjan was the only breadwinner in the family. They are determined to protest until the management gives in to their demands.
