Masina Hospital claims they treated acid attack victims free of charge

Acid attack victim Zakira Shaikh with Drs Vispi Jokhi and Suhas Abhyankar at Masina Hospital in Byculla on Thursday. Pic/Datta Kumbhar

Yet to receive state notification: This is the justification given by Masina Hospital, which had got in trouble for accepting donations for acid attack victims despite a Supreme Court ruling stating such victims should be treated for free. The ruling states acid attack victims are liable for free treatment at their desired hospital, which should later claim the amount from the state.

Treatment talk
Dr Vispi Jokhi, medical director, Masina Hospital, told mid-day, "The ruling makes it mandatory to treat acid victims for free, which we have done. However, there is no mention in any ruling that the hospital does not have the right to raise funds to take care of the cost of treatment... "As far as the funding received from various sources, Masina Hospital has no objection in sharing the details of where the money came from and how much has been spent on Zakira Shaikh's treatment."

Dr Suhas Abhyankar, consulting plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Eric Kharas Burns Research Centre at Masina Hospital, who is treating Shaikh, said," She came to us with 45 per cent burns. We found she had difficulty breathing and both her eyes were burnt. We took her for surgery and performed a tracheotomy [creating an opening in the wind pipe]. She was also taken for a surgery to release both her eyelids; a skin graph was done using skin from Masina's skin bank. Our team performed five such surgeries for her eyes; we managed to save her right eye."

"She's been with us for four months now. Two days back, we removed the tracheotomy tube. Now, she can speak and walk around with help. She has been quite comfortable here and has recovered to a large extent from the psychological scars as well," Abhyankar added.

Increased compensation
Daulat Bi, another acid victim and a social activist, said, "We heard the hospital is planning to discharge her soon. So, we approached the government and they sent officials from the women and child development department to the hospital to meet her."

Department officials, who met Shaikh last evening, plan to make a report and send it to the state. They said that earlier they were given Rs 3 lakh to give to the acid victim, but as per a new GR passed this year, the victim is expected to get Rs 10 lakh.

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