Calcutta, Dec. 27: A 76-year-old man who was brought to Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital with respiratory distress was left untreated for two crucial hours because his family fell short of Rs 50 for the admission fee.

His emergency oxygen supply not restored, Kanak Kumar Auddy died on December 24, gasping for breath.

Brother Arun, 60, and 15-year-old nephew Ujjal rushed Kanak to the emergency department of National Medical College around 6am on Wednesday. “In the hurry, I did not check how much cash I had. The emergency department doctor examined him and put him on oxygen support,” Arun said. He advised that Kanak be admitted to the male medicine ward.

While taking him out of the emergency ward, the hospital staff disconnected Kanak’s oxygen supply, Arun said.

When they sought his admission to the male medicine ward, “officials said none of the free-of-cost beds was vacant”, Arun said. “They said my brother could be accommodated only on the floor. But he was old and fragile and in such a critical state.” Kanak, a retired employee of Union Carbide, had had breathing problem for several years.

Arun and Ujjal requested that he be taken to the ICU. The hospital staff said there was no bed free there either. Only some paid beds, for which the charge was Rs 150, were vacant.

“We told the ward master we wanted a paid bed. He asked for Rs 150. I told him I had Rs 100 and would pay the balance in a while but he turned us down, saying the rule was to pay the entire sum,” said Arun, a resident of Beniapukur, an area close to the hospital on CIT Road.

“I requested him to start my brother’s treatment while I send my son home for Rs 50 but the ward master did not relent,” Arun said.

Ujjal rushed home and got the money. Kanak was allotted a bed around 8am, but the oxygen supply was not restored still. Instead, a nurse handed the duo a medicine requisition slip. “By the time we brought the medicine, my uncle had died,” said Ujjal.

The family said they will lodge a complaint with the state health department on Monday.

The medical superintendent, however, defended the hospital staff. “Why should relatives come with only Rs 100 in their pocket? I don’t know whether he was given any treatment,” said S.K. Saha, also the college vice-principal. “In a government hospital nobody can take the responsibility for any patient’s dues.”