Kathmandu, June 8 -- Some two weeks ago, a man in his late 30s was brought to Bir Hospital's emergency department, after complaining of severe chest pain. Doctors in the ward examined the patient and concluded that a prothrombin time/international ratio (PT/INR) test is required to monitor blood-thinning medication.

However, the hospital had not procured the reagent required for the test for a long time, so the test was not carried out. The patient, who suffered a massive heart attack and felt restless, was placed in an emergency bed, which two other patients already shared. The patient died after half an hour.

"After death, a kind of chaos engulfed the hospital. It took two days for the relatives of patients to convince them to take th...