LAHORE, Jan 16: A kidney patient who was allegedly denied treatment by the Jinnah Hospital administration died at the Shaikh Zayed Hospital on Wednesday night.

The patient, 45-year-old Shahnaz Bibi, was making desperate efforts to get treatment at the Jinnah Hospital, but failed to attract attention of hospital authorities till her death for being in the category of ‘poor patients’.

Her son Qadeer Ahmad took her to Shaikh Zayed Hospital on Wednesday morning with swollen face because of delay in dialysis.

On Tuesday, the Jinnah Hospital administration had seized her documents, including medical investigations by private doctors, and forced her to leave the hospital for complaining to authorities about mistreatment. As a result, her kidneys failed.

Doctors at the Shaikh Zayed Hospital asked Ahmad to immediately buy medicines from the market for her mother, but he could not arrange money for medicines. Earlier, he sold his household items and motorcycle to raise money for the treatment of his mother. Now he had nothing to sell.

His mother’s condition deteriorated after delay in dialysis at Shaikh Zayed Hospital, as doctors were finding it too difficult to diagnose the exact problem in the absence of medical reports seized by Jinnah Hospital doctors.

“As a last resort, I went to a medical store and asked its owner to keep my cell phone and give me medicines, but he refused,” Ahmad told Dawn. “When I returned to the hospital the on-duty doctor said you are late,” Ahmad said in a trembling voice, and burst into tears.

“I sold everything to save my mother’s life and win sympathies of the angry doctors, but they continued to ignore my mother, sometimes for days, for being in the category of poor patients,” he said.

Jobless Ahmad is one of several people who have similar complaints against government hospital doctors and administrations.

Ahmad said it was his mistake that he took his mother to Jinnah Hospital three months ago. “Who is responsible for the death of my mother who had no history of any serious disease before being treated at a government hospital?” Ahmad asked the authorities, which took no notice of doctors’ apathy towards his mother.

He said he knocked every door for treatment of his mother, but nobody listened to him. “Everybody, including doctors, nurses and admin officials, refused to listen to me that my mother was administered wrong treatment at Jinnah Hospital,” Ahmad alleged. He said he tried to meet the Allama Iqbal Medical College principal, but failed.

Ultimately, he said, doctors denied his mother treatment on Tuesday and forced him to take his mother home. “They denied treatment to my mother at a time when she was in dire need of dialysis twice a week,” he said.

“I will not forgive all those who snatched my mother from me who was looking after us after the death of our father,” Ahmad said with tears rolling down his cheeks.