HC asks AIIMS to give report on treatment of HIV positive cancer patient

The Delhi High Court has asked the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here to file a status report indicating the medical treatment to be administered to a woman, who is HIV positive and suffering from oral cancer and was facing difficulty in getting treated due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The court was informed by the counsel for the woman that after filing of the petition she has been admitted at the Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital (IRCH), AIIMS on April 4 and her treatment for cancer has been started.

Justice Mukta Gupta, who conducted the hearing through video conferencing, said whether a surgery has to be performed or any other alternate treatment is to be given to the patient is the exclusive decision of the concerned doctors.

"Considering the fact that the petitioner (woman) has been admitted in IRCH, AIIMS and her treatment has started, at this stage this court finds no further directions to be issued to the respondent No.1 (AIIMS). However, respondent No.1 would file a status report indicating the course of treatment being administered or likely to be administered to the petitioner," the judge said in the order passed on Monday and uploaded on the court's website on Tuesday.

The woman, in her plea filed through her husband, said she is an HIV positive patient for the last twenty years and since 2015 she was suffering from mouth ulcers, which over the passage of time developed into cancer. This fact has come into her knowledge only on March 9 this year, the plea said.

Advocates Saurabh Chauhan and Varun Jain, appearing for the woman, said as her condition worsened, she was visiting OPD at AIIMS but was referred to the Cancer Centre at AIIMS, Jhajjar.

Before she could visit the hospital, in view of the lockdown and the fact the AIIMS, Jhajjar has been notified as an exclusive hospital for treatment of COVID-19 patients, her appointment was cancelled and she was only examined at the OPD of AIIMS, Delhi and no treatment was given, she claimed in the plea, adding that her condition worsened.

Advocate Anand Varma, representing AIIMS, said the woman has been admitted to IRCH, AIIMS and in view of her immune condition and multiple problems, the doctors are considering to administer her definitive chemo radiations instead of going ahead with a surgery which is not feasible in her present condition.

The court was also informed by the woman's counsel that she and her family members were finding it difficult to travel to the hospital in view of the lockdown and they require movement passes.

The counsel for Delhi government told the court that movement passes were already issued to the woman and her family for 10 days and assured that additional passes will be issued to them till the lockdown period is extended and they will not require to approach the authorities again.

The court listed the matter for further hearing on April 10 through video conferencing.