Gujarat: COVID-19 patient dies day after hospital collects his sperm as per HC order

Ahmedabad: A day after a Vadodara-based private hospital collected the sperm of a COVID-19 patient as per the Gujarat High Court's directions following a plea filed by his wife, the man died.

The lawyer of the man's wife gave this information on Friday.

The 32-year-old man was on life support at Sterling Hospital as he was suffering from multi-organ failure following coronavirus infection.

"The hospital had informed us that they had extracted the sperm of my client's husband shortly after the high court gave a go-ahead for it on Tuesday evening. But he passed away on Thursday," Nilay Patel, the woman's lawyer, said.

"Further hearing in the case is scheduled today," he added.

The patient's wife had moved the high court on Tuesday, saying that she wanted to have his child through IVF/ART procedure, but he was not in a condition to give consent for the collection of his sperm. As per doctors, his chances of survival were slim, the plea had said.

She had approached the court after the hospital demanded a court order to collect his sperm for IVF. Granting an urgent hearing to the woman, Justice Ashutosh J Shastri had directed the hospital to collect the man's sperm as soon as possible and store it appropriately.

Anil Nambiar, zonal director at Sterling Hospital, where the patient is admitted, had told reporters on Wednesday that the doctors had successfully extracted sperm of the patient on Tuesday night, within hours of receiving the court's order.

"The patient's family decided to carry out the procedure. But we needed the consent of the individual on whom the process is to be carried out. Since he is critical and cannot give his consent, we could do so only if the court allowed," Nambiar had told the media on Wednesday, adding that the IVF procedure will be carried out after the court allows it.

The high court had noted in the order on Tuesday that "interim relief is granted in an extraordinary urgent situation" and it "shall be subject to the outcome of the petition".

Further hearing about the granting permission for IVF/ART procedure has been scheduled on Friday.