Inquire into wife’s charges on death of Cuddalore corona patient, says EPS

In his statement, the former CM said he was shocked and disturbed to see a video of the woman wailing and complaining about the injustice meted out to her deceased husband. The AIADMK leader also said that the video of Kasturi, who lost her COVID affected husband Raja, was making rounds on social media and the clip was disturbing.

He condemned and termed the incident as an inhuman act. Despite the pleading of the hapless woman, the patient was not given ventilator support and the man died. The state should conduct a detailed investigation into the issue and ensure that those who were responsible for the man’s death should be dealt with legally. He also said that the state should provide compensation for the bereaving family and take steps to ensure that the government hospitals handle patients with care.

Responding to the issue, Health Minister Ma Subramanian said that the deceased Raja was admitted to Cuddalore GH on May 8 with a chest CT scan indicating infections. He was given oxygen support and on May 19 he was shifted to the C-PAP procedure. On May 21, the patient had removed the mask to consume food and during this time there was a patient Manikandan rushed to the hospital with low oxygen saturation. As the C-PAP machine used for Manikandan had a pin connection problem, the C-PAPs of Raja and Manikandan were swapped.

At that time Raja was consuming food and the C-PAP was not in use, the Minister claimed. By the time the medical team kept the C-PAP ready for Raja, he succumbed following a cardiac arrest. A detailed investigation has been ordered and necessary action would be taken, the Health Minister said.