Updated: September 2, 2020 3:09:41 pm
Pandurang Raikar
A Pune-based journalist with a private news channel succumbed to the coronavirus on Wednesday after a private hospital in Ahmednagar allegedly delayed his treatment over prepayment. Maharashtra’s Chief Deputy Minister Ajit Pawar ordered an investigation into the journalist’s death.
Pandurang Raikar, 42, was transferred to Pune Jumbo Hospital in COEP from Ahmendgar on Tuesday night. He passed away early Wednesday morning after his saturation level dropped dramatically.
Raikar, a journalist for 14 years, is survived by his wife and two children. He was a reporter for channel TV9 in Pune.
His family and friends alleged that the hospital delayed his admission unless he made an advance payment of Rs 40,000.
According to Kunal Jaykar, a close relative, the journalist had undergone a hyssop test in Pune two days after Ganesh’s installation on August 22. “The test was negative. Then he decided to rest and return to Ahmednagar, his hometown, “he said.
But on Saturday and Sunday (August 29-30) he felt bad. “On Monday, he went to a private hospital in Ahmednagar that asked him to take a COVID test. The hospital said it cannot perform the test because it had run out of kits, ”Kunal said.
Then the journalist rushed to a COVID care center located a few kilometers from the city of Kopargaon. “Here, they did a rapid antigen test that confirmed it was COVID positive,” Kunal said.
The journalist and his wife then went to the private hospital in Ahmednagar. “All this time, Pandurang was feeling uncomfortable and out of breath and required urgent hospitalization. However, the hospital refused to admit him. They asked him to pay Rs 40,000 in advance. They told him that it will take a while to make the payment as other patients were in the queue, ”Kunal said.
Kunal said that it was only after the intervention of the district collector and the tehsildar that the journalist was admitted to the private hospital. “However, the admission took almost two hours. Even though his condition was deteriorating, the hospital did not give him any treatment or medicine, ”he alleged, adding that if he had received prompt treatment, Pandurang would have survived.
Kunal said that Pandurang’s condition deteriorated even after he was admitted to the hospital. It was then that his family decided to transfer him to Pune on Tuesday afternoon. “He was taken to the Jumbo Hospital in Pune in a cardiac ambulance around 8:30 pm. He passed away this morning, ”he said.
When contacted, Ahmednagar district collector Rahul Dwivedi said: “As soon as I got the information, I ordered the hospital to admit the patient immediately. As for the family’s allegations regarding the advance payment demand, we are investigating it. “
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