How Will State Monitor Private Hospitals Treating Black Fungus? Jharkhand High Court Asks In A PIL Over Negligent Treatment

The Jharkhand High Court has asked the State to apprise it with the method that has been adopted to monitor the functioning of private hospitals, which have been authorized to deal with the patients of 'Black Fungus'.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Ravi Ranjan and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad raised the query in a suo moto action taken by the High Court.

Last year,  based on a newspaper article, where two sons wrote about their mother's suffering while she was being treated for Balck Fungus, said to be an aftereffect of the COVID-19 infection, the matter was initiated.

In the said article, the sons had accounted for how they have been unable to take their mother to a hospital in Tamil Nadu, as referred by the RIMS Hospital in Ranchi due to their financial hardships. The Court was enquiring into the negligent treatment by the respondent-hospital to their mother for Black Fungus.

On the last day of the hearing, the Court had directed the Director, RIMS to conduct an inquiry by constituting an in-house committee to find out the negligence part of the doctor(s) in getting the patient treated/operated since the date of her admission.

The respondent-RIMS submitted before the Court that an inquiry was conducted by an in-house committee chaired by Director, RIMS, against the erring doctors. The in-house committee submitted an inquiry report, basis upon which show cause notice was served upon the delinquent doctors, who submitted a reply. However, as the same was not satisfactory, a decision was taken to initiate departmental proceedings against the said erring doctors.

Associate Counsel to the Advocate General Piyush Chatresh informed the Court that in total, 28 Government and Private Hospitals have been equipped with E.N.T. doctors for providing medical treatment of patients of' 'Black Fungus''

On the inquiry of methods adopted for the treatment of Black Fungus, the State has sought time to seek instructions.

The matter has been posted on February 04, 2022.

Case Title: Court on its own motion v. The State of Jharkhand WP PIL No. 2377/2021

Click Here To Download The Order

Read The Order