112 people have died in the past three years or during treatment at a private hospital here under the government health service scheme which is in the lens of the death of two PM-JAY beneficiaries after angioplasty, police said on Friday.
The revelations came days after the Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrested Dr Sanjay Patolia, a bariatric surgeon and one of the directors of a reputed multispecialty hospital in the city, which made headlines last month after the needless deaths of two “patients” registered under PM-JAY. Angioplasty procedure.
Between September 2021 and October 2024, around 8,500 patients underwent treatment or various surgeries at private hospitals, said ACP Bharat Patel. “Of these, 3,842 people have received free treatment under government schemes like PM-JAY. Our research revealed that out of these 3,842 beneficiaries, 112 people died during or after treatment in these three years. Medical experts will be deputed to investigate these deaths,” he said.
The investigation also revealed that the hospital management, including those arrested in the angioplasty death case, had distributed revenue under various heads in the accounts and had shown a loss of Rs 1.5 crore in the latest financial report, a police official said.
So far, the Crime Branch has arrested seven people, including CEO of Khyati Multispecialty Rahul Jain and Director (Marketing) Chirag Rajput, in connection with the death of two PM-Jai beneficiaries after angioplasty. Hospital chairman Karthik Patel (who is abroad) and director Rajshree Kothari are still absconding, police said earlier.
The investigation was started following the complaint of the families of two of the seven deceased who underwent angioplasty on November 11.
The investigation revealed that the hospital organized free check-up camps in villages to convince PM-JA card holders to undergo angioplasty but there is no medical requirement for the procedure. People were falsely registered under the “emergency” category to speed up government approval for the process. In return, the hospital has claimed payment from the government under the scheme, police said.
On November 12, the Vastrapur police registered three FIRs regarding the deaths of two PM-JAY beneficiaries and arrested visiting cardiologist Dr Prashant Vajirani.