Senior Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal minister Subrata Mukherjee was to be discharged from Kolkata’s SSKM hospital on November 5. The veteran politician, who was being treated for cardiac ailments, had undergone angioplasty early this week. A six-member medical board led by Dr Saroj Mondal had decided he can be discharged.
But, Mukherjee died at 9.22pm on Thursday after suffering a massive cardiac arrest. His wife Chandabani and legal adviser Mani Shankhar Chattopadhyay were with him.
Mukherjee, 75, was in good spirits till then, telling them what he would do after returning home the next day. He even expressed the desire to try out Chinese dishes, and to have pakoras from the hospital canteen, which his wife refused.
But, according to Chattopadhyay, things changed after he returned from the bathroom. “Dada [Mukherjee] said he was not feeling well. He then lay down on the bed and tried to take a deep breath. I looked at the heart monitor but it was all good,” he said.
Suddenly, Mukherjee stopped responding, following which Chandabani and Chattopadhyay alerted the hospital staff. Two junior doctors, assisted by nurses, tried to revive him. They also put him on increased oxygen support.
When asked about why no senior doctors of the medical board were present, Chattopadhyay said, “They were perhaps away. I have no idea where they were. Probably they were in an emergency.”
Senior doctors are supposed to be on call, as per the treatment protocol. Also no member of the medical board of a VVIP is to be engaged in emergency duty.
A senior medical expert told THE WEEK, “Such a big minister and a towering personality of Bengal politics and not even one medical board member was present. I can't even imagine.”
Chattopadhyay said Mukherjee was shifted to the ICU only after chief cardiologist Mondal arrived, apparently after around 45 minutes. By then, the top brass of the TMC had been informed, and Minister Arup Biswas rushed to the hospital.
“As far as I can remember, Subrata da was sent to the ICU only after [Arup] Biswas came. They then put him on a ventilator but within a few minutes, he died,” Chattopadhyay said.
According to insiders, Mukherjee was taken to the ICU at around 8.15pm—almost an hour and 15 minutes after he complained of uneasiness.
“It is gross negligence. That, too, in case of a senior cabinet minister,” said the doctor, THE WEEK has spoken with.
Mondal could not be reached for his comments. Others in the SSKM hospital refused to speak. Mukherjee's family, too, could not be contacted.
Why was Mukherjee admitted to the state-run SSKM hospital, when he was a regular at the Belle Vue Clinic in Kolkata?
“I was in Bangalore and I heard that he was going to hospital for a routine checkup. He did not have any heart attack then. He only went to SSKM for a routine checkup,” Chattopadhyay said.
