The hospital has blamed the patient's family members for the lapse. (Representational)
A hospital in Mumbai's Kurla suburb has been accused of releasing a coronavirus patient's body to his family after changing the cause of death, allegedly for a bribe. After the patient died last week, the death certificate listed an "acute myocardial infraction" but there was no mention of COVID-19.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has sent a notice to the hospital, asking it to explain the major lapse. The civic body of Mumbai, in a letter addressed to the director of the New Noor Hospital in Kurla, said according to the findings of a private lab, the patient was a confirmed COVID-19 positive case, but the hospital kept this information under wraps.
Dr Asif Khan, the director, has blamed the patient's family members for the lapse, alleging they concealed the COVID-19 test report from the hospital.
"We got to know much later that he was COVID-19 positive. The family requested to let it go as there would be a lot of trouble for them, so we released the body to help them avoid trouble," he said.
The matter came to the notice of the civic body when word spread among locals, sources told NDTV.
"The BMC has come to know from credible information that on May 30, (the patient) was admitted with symptoms of COVID-19 in your hospital for necessary treatment. The patient was found confirmed COVID-19 infected, as per the report of Metropolis Healthcare Laboratory, and he later died on June 3, 2020 due to COVID-19 infection in your hospital (sic)," the civic body's notice to the hospital read.
According to the Maharashtra government's Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for handling coronavirus-related deaths, if the test results confirms that he or she was COVID-19 positive, then the body should not be handed over to the relatives.
The BMC noted allegations that the hospital had changed the cause of the death with "dishonest intention" and for "wrongful gains".
The hospital failed to comply to the protocol mandated for handling COVID-19 deaths. Every city hospital is responsible for informing the BMC about such deaths.
When NDTV visited the hospital, the authorities refused to comment on the notice.
The family has said it was not aware of the protocol. The family members of the patient have now been traced and placed under quarantine.
Mumbai has reported more than 47,000 coronavirus cases of with over 1,500 deaths - the highest number of cases and deaths for any city in the country.