67-year-old Covid Patient Tied to Hospital Bed in Kerala, Suffered Head Injury After Fall, Alleges Family

In a case of alleged medical negligence, the family of a Covid positive elderly woman said that she was found tied to a bed at the government-run Thrissur medical college.

The family members further claimed that since the 67-year-old woman was tied to the bed, she even had a grievous head injury. However, Woman’s kin has lodged a complaint with the health minister, district collector, District Medical Officer, the hospital superintendent, and response in the matter is awaited.

“She was tied to the hospital bed and she even fell from the bed which led to a head injury. Nor the hospital took care of the patient, neither she was provided a bed with hand railing for support,” Farooq- Kunjubeevi’s son-in-law said.

All six members of Kunjubeevi’s family were tested positive for novel coronavirus. While the others including three children and kunjubeevi were admitted to a covid first-line treatment centre, later she was shifted to medical college due to high blood pressure, Farooq added.

Kunjubeevi’s plight came to light after a fellow patient showed images of her being tied up to bed to her daughter-in-law, who was visiting her.

Denying the family’s allegations, the hospital authorities claimed that the woman was physically restrained based on the advise of a psychiatrist, to prevent her from removing the cannula. She fell down, that’s an unfortunate thing that happened and she has not sustained deep injuries. There has been no lapse and that we have submitted a detailed report to the health minister, authorities added.

Congress MP, T N Prathapan wrote a letter to the state health minister and said, “There was no precautionary measure taken in relation to this elderly patient with Covid related mental pressure. The woman was made to lie down in a bed even without any side railings. Hands were tied with a cloth to the bed. The elderly woman fell off the bed, and sustained deep injuries on her head and face, with bleeding.”

The Thrissur medical college currently does not have services of psychological counsellors for treating patients with Covid related mental pressure and despite submitting the woman’s pictures no action has been taken so far, Prathapan added.

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