Despite a Supreme Court ruling, 3 Delhi hospitals refused emergency treatment to an accident victim
A 4-year-old boy, who met with an accident in Delhi's Indira Vikas area has died after he was allegedly refused treatment by multiple hospitals, the police said on Monday. The boy reportedly came under the wheels of a taxi, and was run over by the vehicle while he was playing outside his home in northwest Delhi. The boy's family said that the cab driver offered help, and took the child to three hospitals but they refused to treat him.
The family claimed that initially the child was taken to a local dispensary and later to a private hospital and then a government one, but they all refused to admit him, police said. While the cab driver was on his way to the fourth hospital, accompanied by the child's mother, the boy died, the police said.
Some members of the boy's family have also alleged that the driver threatened the boy's mother of dire consequences if she reported the matter to police. "A case has been registered against the driver for causing death by negligence at the Mukherjee Nagar police station. The child's mother did not mention that she was threatened by the driver while giving her complaint. We are investigating the matter," said a senior police officer.
According to a Supreme Court ruling, hospitals - both private and government - cannot refuse to admit or provide treatment (emergency medical care) to seriously injured or ill patients.