'Half Of His Blood...': UP Man On Dialysis Dies After Power Goes Off
The District Magistrate ordered an investigation, citing mismanagement and hygiene issues.
In a shocking lapse in basic medical infrastructure, a 26-year-old kidney patient died mid-dialysis at District Hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor on Friday after a power outage abruptly halted the procedure. The hospital’s backup generator failed to start—because it had no diesel.
Sarfaraz Ahmad, a resident of Phulsanda village, was undergoing dialysis when the power supply was cut off. With no electricity, the machine came to a sudden stop, and treatment could not be resumed.
Hospital staff said the private firm responsible for maintaining the dialysis unit had not supplied the necessary fuel to operate the generator, reported The Times of India.
To make matters worse, the tragedy unfolded as Chief Development Officer (CDO) Purna Borah was conducting an inspection of the facility. According to officials, at the time of the incident, five other dialysis patients were also left lying on their beds with no power, light or ventilation.
Sarfaraz’s mother, distraught and heartbroken, recounted the harrowing experience. “When the power went out, the machine stopped with nearly half of his blood trapped inside it. I pleaded with the staff to start the generator, but no one moved. My son died soon after,” she told The Times of India.
Negligence and Accountability Under Scrutiny
While medical experts later told the newspaper that only around 200 to 250 ml of blood typically circulates through the dialysis machine at any given time, they did not rule out the dangers of such an abrupt interruption. “A sudden power failure may not trap large volumes of blood, but it can destabilise patients in critical condition,” a doctor explained.
The hospital staff placed the blame squarely on Sanjeevani, the private agency operating the dialysis unit under a public-private partnership since 2020. They alleged the firm had repeatedly failed to deliver diesel despite warnings, leading to this catastrophic outcome.
District Magistrate Jasjit Kaur visited the hospital following the incident. Deeply disturbed by the condition of the dialysis unit, she ordered the seizure of all relevant records. “There was clear mismanagement and a lack of basic hygiene. A case will be filed against the agency, and it will be blacklisted,” Kaur said.
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