The deaths of kidney patients who had undergone dialysis at the National Medical College and Teaching Hospital (NMCTH) in Birgunj has exposed how patients with existing ailments struggle even as the country tackles the Covid-19 pandemic. The NMCTH had started providing dialysis service to the patients at the city's Narayani Sub-Regional Hospital after the latter had been designated a Covid-19 hospital. However, seven of the 40 transferred patients have died in a span of five weeks, raising suspicion among the relatives of the dead if the deaths had occurred due to procedural flaws in the treatment.

The relatives allude to a similar pattern in the deaths, with the patients’ health conditions deteriorating during or after the dialysis sessions. They point to a drastic change in the dialysis procedure between the Narayani Hospital and the NMCTH, including the speed of operation of dialysers; the number of times a single dialyser was used for multiple sessions; and the duration of each session for a single patient. Renal experts at the Narayani Hospital and elsewhere say that if the accusations of such procedural flaws are true, they warrant serious investigation owing to the conspicuously high rate of deaths.

What's more, NMCTH director Basruddin Ansari, speaking to The Kathmandu Post, conceded that the hospital was functioning under pressure to treat patients from the Narayani Hospital, having to arrange five shifts daily at present against three shifts in the past. Ansari's allusion to a possible human- and material-resource constraint at the hospital exposes the grave irresponsibility on the part of the NMCTH as well as of the Narayani Hospital and the Ministry of Health for allowing the transfer of 40 innocent patients without proper assessment of the risks involved.

Coming on the heels of reports about kidney patients facing difficulties in receiving regular dialysis services in various other parts of the country, the accusations do not appear unfounded. If proven, these constitute professional misconduct and a serious breach of ethics on the part of the medical practitioners apart from an utter disregard of the life—and death—of a large number of patients. It is within the fundamental rights of the patients to raise questions on the procedures of treatment they are made to undergo. Their accusations of medical malpractice, therefore, warrant a thorough investigation by experts from the Nepal Medical Council rather than knee-jerk reactions by the accused.

The NMCTH imbroglio has exposed how the obsession with Covid-19 has led to the neglect of a wide array of other existing medical issues, including the treatment of life-threatening ailments as if they don’t matter anymore. This should also be a wake-up call for serious contemplation on the broader question as to whether the quality of care in Nepal is patient-centric at all.The relatives allude to a similar pattern in the deaths, with the patients’ health conditions deteriorating during or after the dialysis sessions. They point to a drastic change in the dialysis procedure between the Naryanai Hospital and the NMCTH, including the speed of operation of dialysers; the number of times a single dialyser was used for multiple sessions; and the duration of each session for a single patient. Renal experts at the Narayani Hospital and elsewhere say that if the accusations of such procedural flaws are true, they warrant serious investigation owing to the conspicuously high rate of deaths.

What's more, NMCTH director Basruddin Ansari, speaking to The Kathmandu Post, conceded that the hospital was functioning under pressure to treat patients from the Narayani Hospital, having to arrange five shifts daily at present against three shifts in the past. Ansari's allusion to a possible human- and material-resource constraint at the hospital exposes the grave irresponsibility on the part of the NMCTH as well as of the Narayani Hospital and the Ministry of Health for allowing the transfer of 40 innocent patients without proper assessment of the risks involved.

Coming on the heels of reports about kidney patients facing difficulties in receiving regular dialysis services in various other parts of the country, the accusations do not appear unfounded. If proven, these constitute professional misconduct and a serious breach of ethics on the part of the medical practitioners apart from an utter disregard of the life—and death—of a large number of patients. It is within the fundamental rights of the patients to raise questions on the procedures of treatment they are made to undergo. Their accusations of medical malpractice, therefore, warrant a thorough investigation by experts from the Nepal Medical Council rather than knee-jerk reactions by the accused.

The NMCTH imbroglio has exposed how the obsession with Covid-19 has led to the neglect of a wide array of other existing medical issues, including the treatment of life-threatening ailments as if they don’t matter anymore. This should also be a wake-up call for serious contemplation on the broader question as to whether the quality of care in Nepal is patient-centric at all.