New Delhi/Pune, Aug 4 - Shaken by the death of a 14-year-old girl, India Tuesday issued a string of guidelines, including allowing home quarantine, to prevent a repeat of the country's first swine flu death in Pune.
The family of the dead girl, Rida Shaikh, meanwhile vowed to sue the Jehangir Hospital in Pune for criminal negligence while Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said the treatment came 'too late' to save the girl.
'We will take civil and criminal action against the hospital. The family will also sue for damages... We are not interested in the money. The money will be given to charity,' the girl's family lawyer, Asif Lampwala, told reporters in Pune.
An upset Sajid Shaikh, Rida's father, said: 'If they (private hospital) had sent Rida's samples to NIV (National Institute of Virology) earlier, probably my daughter would have been alive today.'
Her aunt Ayesha Shaikh added: 'We didn't know then but now we know that Ruby Hall, where Rida's samples were sent for tests initially, was not authorised (to test swine flu). When we realised the truth, it was too late.'
The Maharashtra authorities began probing the probable lapses on the part of Jehangir Hospital, where the girl was admitted July 27, and also issued notice to Ruby Clinic where the girl's blood tests were conducted.
The Maharashtra government also declared Pune and Satara districts as affected by the swine flu pandemic. Chief Minister Ashok Chavan squarely blamed the Jehangir Hospital for Rida's death.
Chavan said the government would take action against the hospital for the 'lapses' that led to the girl's death.
Rida, a school student, was first taken to a general physician after she suffered flu like symptoms.
'When her condition did not improve, she was taken to a private hospital and treated for normal flu for two days. When her condition deteriorated and the lungs were affected, then they (hospital) realised that it was not normal because flu doesn't affect the lungs. But by that time it was too late. It was too late for the Tamiflu medication,' Azad said.
He said the health ministry will issue new guidelines to private hospitals on how to handle swine flu patients.