As COVID-19 surges in Kerala, is the govt giving preferential treatment to youngsters over senior citizens?

Kerala government has allegedly given informal instruction to the COVID-19 Control Units that youngsters should be given preference for ventilators over the elderly

As COVID-19 surges in Kerala, is the govt giving preferential treatment to youngsters over senior citizens?
user

Ashlin Mathew

As the number of COVID-19 cases in Kerala surges, the state government has allegedly given unofficial instruction to COVID-19 Control Units that youngsters should be given preference for ventilators over the elderly.

This was admitted by Ernakulam District Medical Officer Dr NK Kuttappan, a control room staffer, and Dr Mathew, a member of the shifting control room, to Dipesh Vora, whose 74-year-old father is admitted at the Fort Kochi Government Hospital.

Dipesh Vora grew up in Kochi, but now works and lives in Mumbai. He came to Kerala just before the lockdown to take his father with him to Mumbai as he was living alone in Kerala.

Vora’s father Ramesh Vora was first admitted to the Matancherry Town Hall Frontline Centre on April 28, from where he was shifted to Fort Kochi Government Hospital on May 4.

On May 6, the doctors at the hospital placed an urgent request with the Ernakulam Covid support control room for a ventilator bed as his oxygen levels had dropped to 74%. This was requested by Dr Twinkle Jisna Joy, who is district administrator.

The request to shift to another hospital was also approved by the Control Room.

As COVID-19 surges in Kerala, is the govt giving preferential treatment to youngsters over senior citizens?
As COVID-19 surges in Kerala, is the govt giving preferential treatment to youngsters over senior citizens?
As COVID-19 surges in Kerala, is the govt giving preferential treatment to youngsters over senior citizens?

After 24 hours, Dipesh Vora went back to the hospital to check the status and he was informed that a ventilator bed was approved at the Ernakulam-based PVS Hospital, subject to bed availability.

“I went to PVS Hospital to check the availability on May 7. The administrator at the PVS hospital said they have no such request from the COVID support control room. He requested them to check again. While waiting there, I saw that people were being admitted and after asking a few contacts, I was told that on May 7, 22 patients were admitted at the hospital,” said Vora.

A doctor at PVS Hospital, who did not want to be identified, confirmed that there was a ventilator bed available at the hospital.

Dipesh Vora conveyed these details to the control room, but no bed was allotted. In desperation, Vora met the new Kochi MLA KG Maxi for help. Though he was assured of help, Maxi asked him to a private hospital.

“I refused to go to a private hospital as I am short of funds. A few years ago, my mother was being treated for cancer and last year, my mother-in-law was being treated for kidney cancer. Lakhs were spent on treating them, so we are short of funds. In a private hospital, my father could be billed more than Rs 7.5 lakh for ventilator support for 10 days or even more,” added Vora.

Vora then went to several hospitals, including those in Kolencherry, which is 40 kms away from Fort Kochi, in search of a hospital bed for his father. Where ever he found a vacancy, he informed the control room about it, but to no avail.

On May 8, Vora went to the district collector S Suhas’s residence for help. Vora was informed that he should meet the Ernakulam DMO Dr NK Kuttappan. As Dr Kuttappan was not available in his office, Vora spoke to him and during the call Dr Kuttapppan acknowledged that the government policy was to give preference to youngsters and not to senior citizens. This was confirmed by Dr Mathew on May 9.

Vora had recorded conversations with all of them.


Dr Kuttapan, however, disagreed. “As a District Medical Officer, I have not given any such instructions. The person may have misunderstood it. The medical officer treating the patients decides if the person requires ventilator support. Generally, it is understood that a younger person may have a chance. This was the case even before COVID-19 hit us.”

Despite several calls, National Herald could not get in touch with Dr Mathew. This article will be updated if and when he responds.

“Today, May 9, I spoke to Dr Mathew to know the status of the bed allocation. I was then informed that he had a conversation with the doctor treating my father. During this call, he informed me that my father would be put on Bi-pap ventilator, because that would give 10% support to a patient. In the conversation, Dr Mathew informed me that in the current situation, it was unlikely that my father would get a ventilator bed,” said Vora, on the verge of tears.

He had put in a request for shifting him to any other district too, but that has not got any response.

“I just want to ask the government one question. More than 70% of all our politicians in Kerala and at the Centre are above 55 or senior citizens. The Kerala CM is above 70 years. Are you saying he will not get treatment? But that won’t happen. He will get treatment, but a common elderly citizen has no choice but to die in the current COVID-19 surge. It is ironical that a banner at the Ernakulam general hospital states ‘Life is precious’. It doesn’t seem so. Is this the famed Kerala model?” Vora said.

“If my father dies, who will be responsible? Is the government control room staff or the district DMO or is it the shifting officer?” lamented Vora.

This is not a solitary case. In the same hospital, another 83-year-old man, whose oxygen levels had dropped to 83%, and who was advised ventilator support, died on May 7 because the Ernakulam control room did not allot a ventilator bed.

In Kerala, there were 41,971 Covid-19 positive cases on May 8, with Ernakulam district having the highest number of cases at 5,492, followed by Thiruvananthapuram (4,560) and Malappuram (4,558). Of the 64 persons who died on May 8, 50 were those above the age of 60.

“Ernakulam is bursting at the seams. A few elderly patients that I know were not given beds. I eventually gave them a procedure for home treatment. I suspect it is because of the age is the factor and there may have been an unofficial directive in the matter,” said a doctor, who has worked in COVID-19 wards in a government hospital. The person did not want to be identified.

However, Indian Medical Association members disagreed that this was even a silent policy. “This is wrong information. I have not heard of this in Kerala and such a situation has not risen in Kerala. Patients are allotted ventilators on first come basis and no one has even thought of this in Kerala. I think bystanders have a misconception because they do not have much idea. The treatment is not decided by the DMO, it is being decided by doctors in the hospital. Since you have mentioned it, I will check,” said Dr Vijayakrishnan GS, joint secretary, Indian Medical Association-Kerala.

Follow us on: Facebook, Twitter, Google News, Instagram 

Join our official telegram channel (@nationalherald) and stay updated with the latest headlines