Questions raised over Mamata's panel on Covid deaths

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, April 15

Pratim Sengupta, a consultant nephrologist with a reputed Kolkata clinic, has questioned West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s step to set up an expert committee with the director of the medical education as convener for certifying whether or not a patient died of Covid-19.

“Why cause of death should be decided by an expert committee sitting in air conditioned close door room miles away from the patient? Either expert committee members need to come in each case and examine the patient and certify death or else the treating physicians must write down the cause of death. It’s a tremendous insult to entire medical fraternity,” Sengupta wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.

“It is evident that diagnosis of Covid-19 is throttled in every step at this state (West Bengal) to give a false sense of security to our citizens risking life of doctors and other healthcare staff and the society at large. And even after death of Covid-19 positive patient having all the symptoms of ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome), cause of death is mentioned by expert committee of government as non COVID death!! We are accepting that!! It’s open shamelessness and false play with the truth!!”, wrote the anguished doctor.

In the medical fraternity of West Bengal, Sengupta’s is perhaps a solitary voice that has questioned Mamata’s step.

Successive governments in West Bengal have been accused of playing down the number of people dying in the state periodically in vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue.