Report on Ranga case next week

Report on Ranga case next week
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, SEPT 13: The centre will take a week to examine in detail the report of the committee probing the treatment provided to late Union Power Minister Rangarajan Kumaramangalam at a private hospital here before he was shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Health and Family Welfare Minister C P Thakur said here today.

Depending on the findings of the report which was submitted recently, the government would contemplate necessary action, including cancellation of the hospital's license, Thakur told reporters.

"The license can be cancelled depending on the report," he said.

Following the death of Kumaramangalam on August 23, the government had appointed the six-member committee headed by Medical Superintendent of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (RML) Dr C P Singh to probe into various aspects of his treatment at the Apollo Hospital where he was admitted in April with undiagnosed fever.

After his condition deteriorated, Kumaramangalam was shifted in August to AIIMS where he was diagnosed as suffering from blood cancer.

The Apollo Hospital has since then been denying allegations of "wrong diagnosis" and mistreatment.

Other committee members are former Director General of Armed Forces Medical Services Lt Gen (Retd) D Raghunath, Medicine Professor from JIPMER in Pondicherry Dr K R Sethuraman, Consultant-Medicine at RML Dr F Chandra Sekaran, Senior Consultant-Medicine in Ganga Ram Hospital Dr P S Gupta and Head of Department of Haemotology from Christian Medical College in Vellore Dr Mammen Chandy.

The Government is also considering means to make private hospitals more accountable, the Minister, who had earlier announced the launch of MTNL Perfect Health Mela starting Septemer 16 here, said.

"We are working out a modality to review the accountability of private hospitals," he said.

Thakur also stressed the need to reduce the huge disparity in the cost of treatment and facilities in government and private hospitals, saying that often the high rates charged by some private hospitals is unjustified.