'Is BMC allowing agencies to forge reports?'

Rajesh Sawant, Rajeshwari’s husband, with her report

It seems to be a never-ending ordeal for Charkop-based Sawant family, thanks to alleged mismanagement by the BMC in treating 41-year-old Rajeshwari Sawant, whose husband alleges she died because of the civic body's negligence and delay in issuing her test results. More shocking is that the report, which the family got on April 15, mentions that the swab sample was collected on Thursday - a day after she died.

The lab, which processed the sample, claims that it might have been a mistake on their part as currently they are extremely burdened. In its report on Friday - ‘No Remdesivir due to delayed test results, woman dies' - mid-day had reported about the ordeal of Rajeshwari, who was first admitted to the BKC jumbo COVID centre on April 10 but was later shifted to a private hospital in Malad by her husband Rajesh. The doctors who discharged her had given a summary report, which had a handwritten note saying that she was COVID-19 positive. However, on April 14 when she needed a Remdesivir injection, the doctors at the hospital said that it could not be given based on a letter that just says that she was a suspected COVID patient and that the test results were necessary. Rajeshwari died the same day and her test report had not arrived by then.

The report issued by the lab

Speaking to mid-day, Rajesh said, "We were shocked to see that the report was negative. My son knows about barcodes, which are there at the top of the report. He checked it and said that the date for sample collection, processing and results are mentioned as April 15. This is beyond my understanding. Is the BMC allowing agencies to forge reports as well?" Rajesh has written to the municipal commissioner, health minister and chief minister regarding the same and sought action against those responsible for his wife's death. "We faced a lot of problems in conducting Rajeshwari's last rites. As the BMC had mentioned that she was a suspected COVID-19 patient, the crematorium officials asked me to get her post-mortem done, as they won't be able to dispose of the body. We had to call the BMC officials and clear the confusion," added Rajesh. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Dinesh Salvi said, "I am shocked to see this. If the patient was COVID negative, then on what basis were the doctors treating her? The woman had diabetes, it seems the BKC COVID centre doctors did not pay any attention to that. They should explain this. Responsibility should be fixed. We will launch an agitation if it doesn't happen."

Rajesh Sawant checks his wife's test report

Dr. Sunil (who refused to disclose his full name), in-charge of Apoorva Diagnostic and Health Care, where the test was conducted, said, "We have a lot of load right now. Mistakes do happen in such times." However, when he was asked about the date on the report, he could not provide a satisfactory answer for it. When contacted, state Guardian Minister Aslam Shaikh asked for copies of all the reports and said, "A fair investigation will be done in this context and if any negligence is found anywhere, action will be taken against the concerned person."