Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court Saturday directed law enforcing agencies not to force closure of any medical shop and wherever necessary protection be provided for selling of the medicine as the state cant allow people to suffer for want of medicine.
The Double Bench of the High Court Chief Justice N.Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar passed these direction over a public interest litigation filed by General Secretary Peoples Welfare Forum MM Shuja.
During the course of hearing the court also asked the learned Advocate General to look into the news item published in local newspapers pertaining to the violence committed on children.
A five year old boy from Kokarnag area is treated at SMHS Hospital after he received pellets fired by govt forces in his eyes. Such incidents shall have to be taken of by the state for not only giving appropriate treatment but also to give compensation to the affected persons/families, the court observed.
In another news item, it is reported that SMHS hospital lacks equipment and its Ophthalmology department has admitted 183 patients who have received pellet injuries in their eyes since July 8. Six patients are reported to have lost vision in both eyes, while doctors say in 10 cases patients one eye was ruptured due to pellets and later eviscerated by the surgeons and about 140 patients need retina surgeries within the next three weeks. It is also reported that hospital can conduct surgeries of 3 to 4 patients in a day which means roughly 28 surgeries in a week can be performed and to operate upon 140 patients it may take about five weeks. However, the patients need to be operated upon within three weeks after getting the primary treatment of the injury and if there is delay, the patients eye globe will shrink and will become visually disabled for life. It is further stated that Principal GMC Srinagar has stated that an expert team of ratina surgeon of SMHS Hospital was evaluating the requirements, both equipment and human resource to conduct the surgeries of the injured and the hospital will take up the matter with the Government and apprise about the requirement.
The Court said that in case the news is found true, immediate steps should be taken to treat the patients including conducting of retina surgeries. Want of space or operation table or surgical items or surgeons cant be an answer to deny timely treatment to the patients who are to be treated for getting vision in their eyes. Hence, we direct the Director, Health Services Kashmir as well as the Principal Government Medical College Srinagar to go through the said news report andtake a decision forthwith so as to enable the persons admitted for eye treatment are treated without loss of time. It is made clear that if it is found that all the patients cant be treated in SMHS Hospital, Srinagar, patients be shifted to other hospitals for providing them the required treatment including surgeries and a status report to this effect shall be filed by 26 July 2016.
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