Boy denied treatment for want of cotton, doctors at Delhi government-run hospitals; HC takes note

On April 1, the petitioner, a Class III student, fell while playing at his school and fractured his left arm. He was rushed to the emergency ward of Dr Hedgewar Aarogya Sansthan where the doctors referred him to a higher centre. The plea states that the doctor on duty wrote “Cotton NA” on the boy’s emergency card and the boy was advised to buy the same.

The boy’s father, who works as a security guard, took him to Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya, where they were told that “no doctor was available as it was already 5.30 pm” and doctors had “left the hospital at 3 pm”. Having no other option of treatment in a government hospital, the petitioner approached a private clinic, which then referred him to Chandra Laxmi Hospital. Around 12.30 am, a plaster was eventually placed on his left arm.

“The mother of the petitioner is working as a maid and she borrowed Rs 12,000/- from her employer and paid the bill of Chandra Laxmi Hospital,” the plea filed by advocates Ashok Agarwal and Kumar Utkarsh states.

Against the denial of treatment at the government hospitals, the petitioner, through his advocate, also served the government with a legal notice on April 6 demanding reimbursement of his expenses and compensation of Rs 1 lakh. However, no response has been received so far.

The plea seeks a direction to the Delhi government to reimburse the medical expenses of Rs 12,000 and provide Rs 1 lakh compensation to the petitioner.

The plea claims that the denial of treatment to the boy for want of cotton and unavailability of doctors is “illegal, arbitrarily, unjust, malafide, discriminatory, unethical and violates fundamental right to health as guaranteed to him under Articles 14 and 21 of Constitution of India”. It also submits that the Delhi government has “miserably failed” to perform its constitutional obligation to provide “free and quality health care” to its residents.