Doctor daughter rushes civil servant father around dozen hospitals. He dies without treatment

A government doctor has alleged that her civil servant father has died without treatment for kidney disease after nearly a dozen hospitals turned him away.

Goutam Aich Sarker, an additional secretary of the government, died at the Kurmitola General Hospital on Saturday noon, daughter Sushmita Aich told bdnews24.com.

He did not show symptoms of COVID-19, but had to be admitted to the hospital for patients with the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus as the family alleged other hospitals denied him treatment.

They rushed him from one hospital to another, said Sushmita, who works at the government’s 333 helpline for medical advices.

“My father badly needed ICU support, but it was not available. He died without treatment and I couldn’t do anything despite being a doctor,” a devastated Sushmita said.

The authorities at the Kurmitola hospital did not test Goutam’s samples for COVID-19 even though she begged them, she added.

The Labaid Hospital contacted Sushmita when Goutam was in respiratory distress and his blood pressure began to rise during dialysis around 4pm on Thursday. The hospital declined to admit him saying they did not have any consultant for treatment.

As Labaid could not provide him with ICU support either, the family took him to the United Hospital, but it also denied him treatment on suspicion that he had COVID-19.

The family then took him to the Universal Medical College Hospital and Square Hospital but they, too, turned him away. They told Sushmita to get him tested for coronavirus first or that intensive care facilities being unavailable.

Sushmita pinned her hopes on the Anwar Khan Modern Medical College Hospital because she had worked there. But it showed them the door on similar excuses.

The Dhaka Medical College Hospital said the patient needed cardiac support which it was unable to provide, according to Sushmita.

She said she took her father to the Regent Hospital in Mirpur when Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University said they could not admit any patient.

“I tried every single hospital that could treat him. When there was nothing else for us to do, we returned home after 9:30pm,” Sushmita said.

“It feels odd that being a doctor I knew my father’s medical history, what he needed, but could not provide him with the ICU support,” she added.

Later that night, a relative secured a seat at the Kurmitola hospital where Goutam was kept in a separate cabin.

Sushmita said the Kurmitola hospital wanted to screen Goutam for COVID-19 on Friday morning so that he could be transferred to another private facility. But they did not do it.

Goutam might have suffered a stroke as he could not speak and move a leg, she said.

“I will speak out about the sufferings we endured for my father’s treatment. What treatment are the other patients without COVID-19 getting? All the hospitals I visited asked us for COVID-19 test report. Where would I get the test done?” she asked.