Thiruvananthapuram: The Government Medical College (GMC), Thiruvananthapuram, is facing serious allegations of medical negligence following the death of a 48-year-old autorickshaw driver from Panmana, Kollam, who succumbed to heart failure on Wednesday night — just hours after recording an emotional audio message accusing hospital staff of neglect and indifference.
According to reports, the patient was admitted to the hospital last Friday after being referred from the Kollam Taluk Hospital for emergency cardiac care. In the voice message, which has since gone viral, he expressed deep anguish over the alleged lack of attention from hospital staff and appealed to his friends to hold them accountable if anything happened to him.
“No one responds to our questions. The staff in uniform don’t even look at you. Corruption is everywhere,” he said in the recording, as quoted by The New Indian Express (TNIE). The patient also spoke of the financial burden of having a bystander in the city and the emotional distress caused by the mounting costs.
Hospital authorities, however, denied any lapse in treatment, claiming that the patient had been brought in after the critical window for angioplasty had already closed. In an official statement, the hospital said his condition was initially stable but deteriorated suddenly despite all medical efforts to save him.
The patient’s family members have announced plans to file a formal complaint with the Chief Minister, demanding an impartial inquiry into the case. His wife alleged that despite being referred for an emergency angiogram, her husband was placed in a general ward and the procedure was delayed for days due to priority being given to previously booked patients.
She further claimed that despite her husband’s persistent headaches, he was only prescribed a painkiller, which was unavailable at the hospital. Doctors allegedly told the family that the angiogram should ideally have been performed on the third day after the heart attack, but it was postponed to the fifth day. His condition worsened during an echocardiogram, following which he suffered breathing distress and was shifted to the ICU, where he passed away.
The incident triggered public outrage, with Congress workers staging a protest outside the medical college on Thursday, demanding action against the doctors involved. They attempted to enter the Superintendent’s office but were removed by the police, reports The Deccan Chronicle.
Opposition Leader VD Satheesan strongly condemned the incident, describing it as a reflection of a “crumbling public health system.” He told TNIE, “He didn’t just die—he was failed by a health department that has been systematically neglected for nearly a decade. The Health Minister and the government must take responsibility for this tragedy.”
Satheesan added that the patient’s final words serve as a haunting reminder of the despair faced by countless citizens in government hospitals. “Even in death, he speaks for the unheard—those who face indifference and helplessness in the public healthcare system,” he said.
Kollam MP N. K. Premachandran also demanded that the police register an FIR based on the deceased patient’s audio clip, calling for an immediate investigation into the circumstances that led to his death.
