12 August,2009 08:59 AM IST | | Ketan Ranga
Ayurvedic doctor Babasaheb Mane (36) would not have died of swine flu on Monday if the Pune's hospitals had behaved more responsibly.
Mane had, at the beginning of the month, unsuccessfully attempted to cure a throat infection with some ayurvedic pills before approaching a doctor on August 4. He subsequently tested positive for pneumonia, and was advised to get tested for H1N1.
Fainted
Said his brother Jayshankar, "On August 5, he fainted in the queue at the Naidu Hospital. The doctors refused to break the queue to check him, so we had to rush him to Inaam General Hospital, where his condition worsened. At 1 am, on August 6, we transferred him to Inlac Budhrani Hospital and a subsequent test on August 7 at National Institute of Virology confirmed that Mane was suffering from swine flu.u00a0
Mane's friend Dilip Kusale, said, "Sasoon Hospital kept him waiting the entire night as they did not have a free ventilator, even as his condition deteriorated before our eyes. When he finally got a ventilation mask, it did not have a buckle and his wife had to sit near him holding the mask."
Said Jayshankar, "Hadu00a0 Naidu Hospital been more careful and checked my brother on August 5, the flu would have been detected two days earlier. And, if it was better equipped, he could have received attention earlier." Mane is survived by his wife, two children, brother and mother.
