Delhi HC directs constitution of medical team for siblings suffering from muscular dystrophy

The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to constitute a medical team for two siblings suffering from muscular dystrophy within five days and send it to the residence of the petitioners and patients who are completely bedridden.

The Bench of Justice Pratibha M Singh on Monday sought a medical report from respondents by January 28, in a plea by siblings suffering from progressively worsening life-threatening disease called muscular dystrophy.

"Petitioners as of now are not able to do any task by themselves and they are in need of other persons help for all their work and are completely bedridden. Petitioners are completely dependent on widowed mother from their very young childhood and they are in the worst poverty condition and they are homeless," read the plea.

Advocate Ashok Agarwal and Advocate Kumar Utkarsh represented the siblings 29-year-old Rosalini Parida and 26-year-old Rakesh Kumar Parida argued that "These patients are immobile, condition rapidly deteriorating and need government assistance apart from treatment."

The plea also sought direction the respondents to arrange for petitioners free of cost physiotherapy, occupational therapy, hydrotherapy at doorstep or in any another appropriate place by providing free transport facility and to provide petitioners free of cost the required energy supplements, medicines, food therapy with the necessary nutrients, periodic holistic health intervention, proper accurate diagnosis.

The petitioner also sought free of cost walker, caliper, taylor belt, AFO, KFO Outlook, Bionic Knee brace, spinal brace, biodex unweighing system with periodic maintenance and ventilation machine.

According to the petition, patients are suffering from the seriousness of their progressively worsening muscular dystrophy.

"Muscular dystrophy is of 30 types and some of them have various sub types. Muscular dystrophy affects completely all the muscles in the body and all the vital organs like heart and lungs predominantly and further it affects entire physiological systems in the body. Health conditions of persons with muscular dystrophy worsen rapidly without regular treatment, energy supplements, food therapy and medicines. Very urgent need for treatment for petitioners with muscular dystrophy so as to retain the body condition so that newly developed gene therapy/drug therapy/stem cell therapy if any in future will work," the plea said.

"When the first petitioner was a 5-year-old girl and the second petitioner was about 3 years and their mother was pregnant for 7 months, petitioners' father died and from then their family does not have any resources to live the life. From then to make petitioners, to live the life petitioners' mother put all her hard work by working as a maid. Even till now, petitioners' family does not own an accommodation to live in," it said.

( With inputs from ANI )