Union Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan on Friday night took to Twitter to say that he had ordered the immediate replacement of the Medical Superintendent of the AIIMS Trauma Centre.
As the Minister noted in a series of tweets, this decision appears to be connected to the recent death of a COVID-19 positive journalist who had jumped off the fourth floor and passed away a few days ago.
"Directed that an expert committee be constituted to suggest suitable changes in administration, for AIIMS as well as JPNATC. The report, along with its recommendations, shall be submitted before me by July 27, 2020," he said. According to him, the 4-member inquiry committee that had been constituted to examine the scribe's suicide had submitted its report on Friday.
"The committee did not find any malafide intent in his death. It also did not find any lapses in the treatment protocol of COVID-19," Harsh Vardhan said.
Yet another death had been reported from the hospital on Friday. A 25-year-old junior resident doctor at AIIMS here died on Friday after he jumped from the tenth floor of a hostel, police said. He had been a junior resident doctor at the Department of Psychiatry, and reports suggest that he had been suffering from depression.
Reacting to this, Harsh Vardhan said that he was "shocked and distressed at the news. "He was under treatment for severe depression for sometime now and took away his own life. My heart bleeds for his family. Condolences to them and his colleagues," he tweeted. In a follow-up post the Minister said that he had been "swept by tears" as he read the young doctor's blog.
"I feel very strongly. This self-annihilation must be stopped at any cost! Rest in Peace My Son!" he added.
Alongside the tragic deaths, there has also been COVID-19-related controversies that the hospital has faced recently. A few days ago one mortuary staff member was sacked and another suspended after the bodies of two COVID-19 patients were swapped while being taken for their last rites. Reportedly, the AIIMS trauma centre had set up a committee to look into the matter.
