14 children in Farrukhabad died of oxygen shortage
Report by RML Hospital’s top medical officer contradicts state administration’s stand and hints at staff negligence being responsible for deaths
The deaths of at least 14 children at a government hospital in Farrukhabad last month were caused by a lack of oxygen, an official report said.
The report of the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital noted that 14 out of 30 children who died between July 22 and August 20 at the sick newborn care unit perished only of peri-natal asphyxia – a condition where a child cannot breathe properly.
Lack of oxygen killed at least 14 of the 49 children who died at a government hospital in UP’s Farrukhabad last month , a report by the institution’s top medical officer has said, contradicting the stand taken by the state administration.
The report of the chief medical superintendent of the women’s section of the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital noted that 14 out of 30 children who died between July 22 and August 20 at the sick newborn care unit (SNCU) perished only of peri-natal asphyxia – a condition where a child cannot breathe properly after birth and has to be immediately put on oxygen supply.
The report says another four of the 30 died because of peri-natal asphyxia along with other complications. Twelve others died of other reasons ranging from septicemia to premature birth. HT has a copy of the report accessed through hospital sources.
Other than these 30 children, 19 more babies died at birth in the hospital during the same period.
“There could be several reasons for perinatal asphyxia or what be call a difficult birth, and these babies need oxygen support. In fact they might even need a ventilator,” says Dr Deepika Deka, professor, gynaecology and obstetrics department, New Delhi’s AIIMS.
Officials said the RML medical officer’s findings became the basis for a report by the city magistrate, which indicted the hospital authorities for gross negligence. Within hours, the state government dismissed the magistrate’s report as “superficial” and said the deaths weren’t due to an oxygen supply crisis.
This came at a time when chief minister Yogi Adityanath is facing a storm of criticism over a string of similar deaths at a government hospital in Gorakhpur roughly a month ago. The government has swept aside charges of negligence in both cases despite mounting attacks on the state’s poor health infrastructure.
Local officials point out to a crucial difference between the two cases. In the case of the Baba Raghav Das Medical College in Gorakhpur, it was alleged that a snag in oxygen supply caused the deaths. But in Farrukhabad, both the magistrate and parents of the newborns blame the doctors and hospital staff for being careless and not providing oxygen, which was available, to the children.
“This underlines gross negligence on the part of the hospital authorities ,” said a district official. “The government wrongly presumed the local report puts the blame on shortage of oxygen as was the case in Gorakhpur.” The official said the magistrate’s team had a doctor on board.
Health department officials, however, continued to set aside charges that doctors didn’t give adequate oxygen to children. “There can be many reasons behind peri-natal asphyxia. A child can get asphyxiated in mother’s womb,” said a doctor.
“The inquiry team should have consulted experts rather than hurriedly and blaming the hospital for deaths,” he said.