New Delhi [India], July 18 : After Safdarjung Hospital claimed that activist Sonam Wangchuk's potassium level fell drastically from the normal range, his wife Gitanjali J Angmo alleged that the hospital is neither allowing her to get a second opinion at another lab nor allowing her to take his blood sample in her presence.
In an X post, Angmo said that the hospital has claimed that the potassium level of Sonam Wangchuk has dropped from 4.3 (allegedly recorded on Friday) to 2.9. She noted that she has been awaiting the hospital's response for 2 hours after asking for Wangchuk's immediate discharge, adding that the lack of transparency is suspicious.
"Safdarjung Hospital's report says @Wangchuk66's potassium level is 2.9, whereas just yesterday it was 4.3. They are not allowing me to either get a second opinion by taking him to another lab, nor are they giving me his blood sample in my presence, which I can get tested elsewhere. I have been waiting for 3 hours, but they haven't obliged us yet. This lack of transparency is making us suspicious, and we have asked to be discharged immediately so that we can go to a hospital that we are comfortable with. We have been awaiting their response for the last 2 hours," she said.
https://x.com/GitanjaliAngmo/status/2078437739935203459
CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas also alleged that the Delhi Police, which has surrounded the Safdarjung Hospital, did not let him meet Sonam Wangchuk despite follwoing all the guidelines issued by the hospital director.
"There is a virtual martial rule in this country. Hospitals have been taken over by the Delhi police. If you can go inside, you will see that the Delhi police have swarmed over the Safdarjung Hospital. Despite discussing with the director, who permitted us to see Sonam Wangchuk on the condition that we shouldn't be filming it and we shouldn't allow anybody else to come with us. We all agreed to that in good faith. But even after the director's permission, Delhi Police did not allow us to meet Sonam Wangchuk," he said.
CPI(M) General Secretary, MA Baby, underlined that the Delhi Police said that only people with the permission of the director are allowed to meet Wangchuk. After the director told the police personnel to take him to the admitted activist, the police pretended to take him to Wangchuk but disappeared.
"Police people said that only with the permission of the director of the hospital can we meet Sonam Wangchuk. When the director of the hospital came out and told the police officers they should be taken. Police people pretended that they were taking us to Wangchuk, but they disappeared," he said.
According to the sources, the doctors at the Safdarjung Hospital have found that Wangchuk is facing dehydration, low potassium and rising ketone levels, which can increase during fasting but, when significantly elevated along with dehydration, may pose a risk to kidney function and other metabolic complications.
He is under close medical observation at the hospital after 20 days of prolonged fasting. The hospital authorities are continuously counselling the family to allow treatment to begin without further delay.