NHRC notice to Bihar govt over patient being thrown out of hospital

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday issued a notice to the Bihar government over reports of a ward boy throwing a patient out of a hospital in Vaishali district.

Taking suo moto cognisance of the reports, NHRC has issued a notice to the Bihar chief secretary, seeking a report, along with the present health status of the patient, within four weeks.

"The NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of media reports that a patient from the burns ward of the Hajipur Sadar Hospital in Bihar's Vaishali district was allegedly thrown out by a ward boy to a place where garbage is dumped. The picture of the patient lying on the waste has also been carried," the Commission said in a statement.

Reportedly, the patient was referred by Lal Ganj Referral Hospital for treatment there, it added.

The NHRC observed that the contents of the news reports, if true, amount to human rights violation of the patient.

"The right to health and proper medical care is one of the basic human rights. Even if the patient himself went out and collapsed, the incident indicates negligence on the part of the ward attendants/ nursing staff of the hospital as he could not be noticed for a long time," it stated.