Miss Alone
Prime VIP
Meera Devi, a 45-year-old homemaker, was recently diagnosed with brain tumour, but instead of getting treated she had to approach the Delhi High Court to get an early date for surgery at AIIMS.
The doctors at AIIMS have listed her for surgery in August 2018. When requested for an early date, the woman alleges, they asked her to opt for a private ward.
Troubled with the incident Meera, a resident of Sanjay Colony, Okhla Phase 2, has moved the Delhi High Court seeking directions to All India Institute of Medical Sciences to provide speedy, timely and free-of-cost treatment.
Dr. Amit Gupta, spokesperson for AIIMS, was not available for a comment despite several attempts through calls and text messages.
The petition moved through advocate Ashok Agarwal says, "Having regard to the advanced stage of tumour and the worsened symptoms, the petitioner is urgently required to be administered the treatment of removal of the tumour by brain surgery. The petitioner's life is at risk and is sure to die within few months and would not survive till the given date for brain surgery till some miracle happens."
'IT WOULD TAKE A MONTH TO GET THE MRI DONE'
Recalling the suffering, Ramji Singh, husband of Meera Devi, told Mail Today, "My wife on July 15 fell unconscious in the washroom with no moment in the four limbs, frothing form mouth and uprolling of eye ball. We rushed to Safdarjung where she was discharged in two days. We were told she has brain tumour. I took her to AIIMS where the doctor asked us to get MRI done. We were told that it would take nearly a month of us to get the MRI done so we opted for a private lab." Singh says when they showed the report to the doctor he listed the surgery for August 19, 2018.
"When we insisted for an earlier date, we were told to opt for the private ward which would cost us around Rs 1.25 lakh and then the operation can be conducted by December this year. We are not in a position to arrange such a large amount in my salary of `9,000 a month," said Singh. Meera is a mother of two sons - a minor and an 18-year-old and her husband works in a printing press.
"I have not been to work for almost a month now. She cannot be left alone at home. She suffers from constant headache, pain in neck, has breathing problems, shivers and fever," Singh said. The petition claims that the hospital is under constitutional duty to make arrangement for speedy and timely treatment of all the patient who need urgent treatment of their diseases.
"There is no justification in giving such long dates which would render the treatment meaningless. The petitioner's fundamental right to life, health and medical aid has been violated," the petition says.
