2 PMJAY beneficiaries die after angioplasty; Gujarat govt orders probe

The Gujarat government on 12 November, Tuesday, ordered a probe into the death of two persons, enrolled under the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme, after they underwent an angioplasty — a procedure that widens blocked or narrowed coronary arteries to improve blood flow to the heart — at a private hospital in Ahmedabad.

The relatives of the two persons alleged the hospital kept everyone in the dark and conducted the procedure in haste to raise medical bills under the government scheme.

The Ayushman Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) provides free health insurance of up to Rs 5 lakh per year to needy people.

The two persons — Nagarbhai Senma (59) and Mahesh Barot (45) — died soon after the angioplasty procedure, along with stent placement, was performed on them at the Khyati Multispeciality Hospital in Bodakdev area of the city on Monday.

After learning about the deaths, their relatives rushed to the hospital and sought justice from the government, claiming both the men were healthy and the hospital management performed angioplasty in a haste to raise medical bills with the government under the PMJAY scheme.

Gujarat health minister Rushikesh Patel said, "The alleged incident at the Khyati Hospital is very serious. I have ordered an immediate inquiry by the State Anti-Fraud Unit (SAFU) of PMJAY. If there is any substance in the allegations or evidence of medical negligence, severe action will be taken against the hospital and the doctors involved."

A preliminary probe by the authorities suggested the hospital had arranged a free medical check-up camp at Borisana village in Kadi taluka of Gujarat's Mehsana district on Sunday, 9 November.

After the camp, the hospital brought 19 villagers to its facility here saying they will have to undergo an angiography, Patel said.

"After doing angiography, they performed angioplasty on seven of them and also put a stent. Of these seven, two died soon after the surgery on Monday (10 November). This is nothing but criminal negligence," the minister said.

In view of the incident, Patel said a standard operating procedure (SOP) about arranging health check-up camps will be issued soon for private hospitals.

Former state health minister Nitin Patel, who belongs to Kadi in Mehsana, rushed to the hospital and interacted with 12 other patients, all belonging to Borisana village.

"After arranging the camp on Sunday, the hospital brought 19 villagers here on Monday. Of the seven who underwent angioplasty with stent placement, two have died. Villagers told me that even their relatives were not aware about the surgery," he said.

"They were under the impression that only a check-up would be conducted. They had signed the form as directed by doctors," Nitin Patel said.

Relatives of these 19 patients, in a video which they made outside the hospital on Monday night, alleged the medical facility conducted the procedures in haste and kept everyone in the dark just to take undue benefit under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.