Mumbai hospital moves SC seeking medical oxygen for treating COVID patients

New Delhi, May 11

A Mumbai-based private hospital has moved the Supreme Court seeking direction to the Centre and the Maharashtra government to take urgent steps to ensure sufficient supply of Oxygen to it for saving lives of COVID-19 patients.

The plea said it is a COVID hospital with 90 beds of which 13 are hi-tech ICU facilities and the hospitals which are requisitioned by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) can retain 20 percent of the beds for non-COVID patients.

It said that from April 12, 2021, oxygen was denied by a private medical gas provider to it and the hospital had to shift the patients to other hospitals.

“At a time when there is great shortage of beds and ICU facilities for the treatment of COVID patients, the petitioner Hospital, one well equipped with all modern, hybrid facilities for COOVID treatment, is forced to remain handicapped, practically closed,” the plea said.

The hospital claimed it was even willing to pay five times the approved rates for oxygen but the private medical gas provider demanded a minimum of 10 times the official rate.

The petitioner hospital said that they had complained to BMC, police authorities and even made representations to various other authorities but it had not received any help of any kind.

“The said representations to the various authorities unfortunately fell only on deaf ears at a time when the state continues to face an extreme emergency where death stares in large numbers of COVID patients, who are struggling to breathe and require immediate supply of oxygen”, it said. 

The hospital also alleged black marketing of medical grade oxygen in the state and sought action by authorities against the medical gas providers. 

The top court is currently seized of a suo motu case on ensuring supplies of essential commodities and services for management of COVID-19 across the country and has also dealt with the issue of supply and demand of oxygen to hospitals. —PTI