AMU professor dies after waiting for ambulance for 6 hours

Aligarh Muslim University professor Dr D Murthy, who was undergoing treatment at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, breathed his last on Tuesday as the authorities failed to arrange an ambulance in time to shift him to New Delhi.

Professor Murthy, who was also the chairman of the Department of Modern English Language at the varsity, had been teaching at the Aligarh Muslim University for the last 28 years.

The 64-year-old, who was suffering from a stomach ache for the past several days, was admitted to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College on Sunday morning.

After some tests, the doctors discovered a large tumour in his intestine and decided to conduct an immediate surgery.

The surgery took place on Sunday night but Dr Murthy’s condition worsened the next morning following which the doctors referred him to Delhi.

Dr Mohammad Aslam, one of the surgeons at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, said: “Murthy

had cancer and was on ventilator. He was referred to the hospital in Delhi after his condition deteriorated following the surgery.”

Professor Shaikh Mastan, a friend of Dr Murthy said, “The ambulance couldn’t be arranged in time, there was no coordination between the CMO and the doctor.”

Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College principal Tariq Mansoor said, ‘Dr Murthy was suffering from an advanced malignancy. He was on ventilator and could only be shifted to Delhi in a ventilator-equipped ambulance.”

“There was a ‘little’ delay in completing the paper work,” he added.

AMU public relations officer, Omar Saleem Peerzada, said that the varsity has constituted a three-member committee to probe the cause of death and other aspects. The committee will submit its report by November 5.