Top News

Hyderabad: A Nagarkurnool family has alleged that doctors at two private hospitals colluded to conceal the death of a 28-year-old temple priest, including referring him between facilities after he had already died.

Tirunagari Ramakrishna Murthy, a resident of Kodair mandal headquarters in Nagarkurnool district, was admitted to Manikanta Hospital on Monday, April 20, with gastrointestinal complications. He was also diabetic. As the hospital lacked an intensive care unit (ICU), he was placed in the general ward, where he was treated for two days.

In the early hours of Wednesday, April 22, family members alerted doctors that Murthy was struggling to breathe. According to his brother-in-law, also named Ramakrishna, the doctors then referred him to Gayathri Hospital – another private facility roughly two kilometres away – without providing a discharge summary or referral slip. 

“The referral happened over a telephone conversation between the doctors of the two hospitals,” Ramakrishna told Siasat.com. The family had by that point paid approximately Rs 18,000 toward his treatment at Manikanta Hospital.

Murthy arrived at Gayathri Hospital by ambulance at around 7:15 am. The family alleges he was made to wait in the outpatient queue until 9 am, at which point doctors performed CPR and declared him brought dead.

The family believes Murthy had already died before the transfer, and that the doctors at Manikanta Hospital were aware of this when they made the referral. They further allege that Gayathri Hospital staff attempted to suppress the facts and pressured the family to remove the body without explanation. “All we wanted to know was how he died — due to what complications? Without giving any answers, they just wanted us to take the body away,” Ramakrishna told Siasat.com.

The family also alleges that Gayathri Hospital management tried to intimidate them through their influence.

When contacted by Siasat.com, Gayathri Hospital’s manager stated that Murthy had been taken to the emergency ward, where CPR confirmed he had been brought dead on arrival.

Ramakrishna told Siasat.com that Murthy was unmarried and had been the sole provider for his parents and a brother unable to work due to a physical disability. The family said they planned to file a complaint with Nagarkurnool Town Police Station on Wednesday night.

(More details are awaited)