Comatose man, whose eyelid was allegedly bitten by rat in hospital, dies

Parvinder Gupta had suffered a paralytic attack March 6 and was referred to the Highland Hospital. He then underwent an MRI scan, which showed that he had a vein blockage that obstructed the blood flow to his brain. He slipped into a coma and later died. The last rites are likely Friday evening.

A surgeon and his assistant perform cosmetic surgery inside a hospital operation theater in Mumbai May 9, 2008. [Representational Image] — Reuters

A 27-year-old coma patient, whose eyelid was allegedly bitten by a rat in a Mumbai hospital, died Thursday, May 3. He was admitted to the Jogeshwari trauma center and the hospital authorities have now said that the body will be moved to Siddharth Hospital for an autopsy.

"We tried our best to save him, but his condition was very critical when he was brought to the hospital," Mid-day quoted Dr H Bhava, medical superintendent of the hospital, as saying.

Parvinder Gupta had suffered a paralytic attack March 6 and was referred to the Highland Hospital in Thane. He then underwent an MRI scan, which showed that he had a vein blockage that obstructed the blood flow to his brain. The doctors then suggested surgery, but he slipped into a coma.

Speaking of his death, Parvinder's father Ram Gupta told the tabloid: "Last year he met with an accident, but at that time he didn't undergo treatment properly. This led to a swelling in his brain. We collected Rs 10 lakh for treatment, but he couldn't be saved."

Parvinder's last rites are likely to be conducted Friday, May 4, evening.

Eyelid nibbled by a rat

The patient was moved from the Highland Hospital to the Jogeshwari hospital as his family could not afford the treatment at the private hospital. His father is said to be a worker at a flour mill. He was admitted to the civic-run hospital and was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

A couple of days later Parvinder was moved to the general ward, but his family alleged that the sanitation situation was terrible in the ward and that Parvinder had been bitten by a rat April 23. His father said that he had seen blood on the Parvinder's eyelid and believed it was a rat as he had seen a few of them near his bed.

However, the hospital had denied these allegations and said that there were no rats in the ward. The authorities even claimed that Parvinder's parents were making these "fictitious" claims at the behest of a doctor, who wanted to malign the hospital's name.