C.N. Sharma at no point in time over the past week entered the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI)-Dr Pratik Soni

-Sharma's wife sought Doctor's assistance to forge medical referral letter

“Mr Sharma at no point in time over the past week entered the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI). How can I diagnose or even refer a patient if I have not seen the patient?” questioned an evidently concerned Dr Pratik Soni yesterday.
Dr Soni, an International Cardiologist attached to CHI, was commenting on reports that Chandra Narine Sharma, owner of CNS Channel Six was refused access to the institution.

Dr Pratik Soni

Dr Soni has been operating at CHI since last year on a fulltime basis. Yesterday, he said that even if he is away there are three other specialists – Dr Ghansham Singh, Haydoc Wilson, and Shaskil Kumar – that are also available.
A statement issued by CNS Channel Six yesterday said that there were three separate attempts to have Sharma admitted into the care of the cardiologists at the CHI located within the Georgetown Hospital Compound.
The statement revealed that the first attempt was made last week Tuesday. Then, one of Sharma’s employees was informed that his admission could not be facilitated at the time.
The second attempt, the statement read, was last Saturday evening following Sharma’s “cardiac arrest and resuscitation” and a referral from a private institution to CHI.
Another attempt, the statement added, was made last Sunday evening. “The last two attempts family members received the same response from the attending nurses at the CHI who stated that while they are willing to admit Mr Sharma they were unable to make contact with the doctors or specialists to look at him.”
But according to Dr Soni, yesterday, it is clear that “Mr Sharma did not want to be admitted to the institution.” Citing the CHI appointment diary, Dr Soni said that it was on September 15, last, that Sharma contacted CHI to inquire when he could visit the institution.
An appointment was made for the following day (September 16) which should have seen Sharma undergoing both Stress and Holter tests, Dr Soni said. “He did not turn up…There was never a reason given but he didn’t come.
“We gave him a priority date because when patients come here we would normally give them an appointment date for the next week or so but he got the next day and didn’t show up,” Dr Soni added.
He disclosed that it was not until last week Tuesday that Sharma, though not directly, contacted CHI again. “He came but he didn’t even come in the compound. He parked his vehicle and sent up his Secretary (name given) and she asked if he could be admitted and our secretary told her that he would have to come up but he never did come up.
He never entered CHI…again it shows he never wanted to come,” the doctor speculated.
Subsequent to this, Dr Soni said that Sharma’s wife, Savitree Singh, attempted to garner a letter from CHI to have Sharma referred for medical treatment overseas. But according to Dr Soni he was in no position to offer such assistance as he had not attended to the patient.
“We understand he wanted an overseas opinion but as a doctor there is no way that I could have signed a letter of referral for Mr Sharma. We are always willing to help but how can we help when he is not presenting himself to us?” queried Dr Soni.
According to the statement issued by CNS Channel Six, Sharma, who is also leader of the Justice For All Party, was flown out of Guyana by medi-vac for emergency medical treatment on Tuesday.
The statement did not disclose a destination.
According to the statement, Sharma suffered a cardiac arrest last Saturday afternoon after his admission to a private medical institution where he was resuscitated by medical personnel.
This latest incident, the statement said, was preceded by Sharma being hospitalised three times over the last fortnight.
It added that after being released last Thursday, Sharma was re-admitted on Saturday afternoon after complaining of chest pains.
The statement added that the Sharma family subsequently made the decision to medi-vac him overseas for treatment after receiving the relevant legal approvals.
Reports are that Sharma’s United States visa, which was revoked by the United States Embassy, was allowed to leave the jurisdiction after his lawyer Nigel Hughes made an application to the High Court for Sharma to leave the jurisdiction on the grounds that he required medical attention overseas.
Sharma is currently embroiled in a sexual offence court matter, which was scheduled to be heard on Monday. However the case was reportedly postponed to October 22 due to Sharma’s illness and due to the fact that Special prosecutor Sanjeev Datadin was out of the country.
With a reported intent to secure medical, Sharma left Guyana aboard an Aerojet International flight for Trinidad on Tuesday.
Reports are that Sharma, who was a patient at the Balwant Singh Hospital since Saturday was transported by ambulance to the airport but boarded the plane as a normal passenger.