Health department issues show-cause notice to CMRI

The state Health department on Friday issued a show-cause notice to the Calcutta Medical Research Institute (CMRI) for asking the relatives of a road accident victim to pay Rs 50,000 for admission.

Sunil Patra, a resident of Kultali in South 24 Parganas was critically injured when a truck hit his bicycle on the morning of March 15. He was on the way to the market when the accident took place. The victim fell on the ground and bled profusely. A portion of his right leg was severed from the knee.

Patra's relatives took him to a local hospital and then to a private hospital in Salt Lake. The authorities of the hospital expressed their inability to treat the patient. He was then taken to the CMRI. Patra's relatives alleged that CMRI authorities had asked for Rs 50,000 to grant him admission. He was then taken to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital where he was also refused by the doctors.

Finally, he was admitted to SSKM hospital. The doctors, however, could not attach the severed portion of the leg on Thursday. The Health department officials in the show-cause notice asked the CMRI authorities to explain why Patra was not admitted and why his relatives were asked to pay Rs 50,000. The CMRI authorities said they did not refuse Patra but had told his relatives about the cost of treatment at their hospital. The relatives did not agree to the amount quoted by the authorities and took him to state-run healthcare establishments.