Five doctors of a private hospital in Noida have been booked for negligence in treatment of a COVID-19 patient which allegedly led to his death during the second wave of the pandemic in 2021, officials said on Monday.

The family of the patient, who was in his early 20s, claimed that he was not administered remdesivir injection in time at the hospital despite them purchasing it on the basis of doctor's prescription, according to the FIR.

The first information report (FIR) has been lodged against the doctors of Yatharth Hospital at the Phase 2 police station under Indian Penal Code section 304A (causing death by negligence) over a complaint by Gautam Buddh Nagar's deputy chief medical officer Dr Tikam Singh.

Dr Singh also headed an official probe committee which had investigated the complaint of the Ghaziabad-based family and the allegations to be true.

However, Yatharth Hospital's managing director Kapil Tyagi claimed that the allegations were misplaced.

“The patient was brought to our hospital in a critical condition. I believe had there been a delay of even half an hour, the patient would not have survived. But here his condition started improving and after about 35 days, the family took him to another hospital in Delhi,” Tyagi told PTI.

He said the team of doctors at the hospital did a good job at their end, considering the challenging situation during the second wave of the pandemic last year.

“Also, on the family's allegation of not administering remdesivir injection in time, there are multiple research reports which later showed remdesivir had no impact in treating coronavirus. We understand that the family has lost a young child and it is very unfortunate,” Tyagi said.

Paramhans Tiwari, the in-charge of the Phase 2 police station, said the police are investigating the matter and further action would be taken on the basis of findings of their probe.