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30 Kids Die In 48 Hours At Gorakhpur Hospital As Supplier Stops Oxygen Due To Payment Issues

bySusri Sahu
12th August 2017
2 minute read
hospital

I don’t know about you but I have read the newspaper and tossed it in the bin, more often than I care to admit. But it is worse today.

In a shocking incident, 30 children, many of them newborns, have died in the last 48 hours at Baba Raghav Das Medical College in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur city. 

After digging deeper, it turns out that a total number of 60 deaths have occurred in the past 5 days.

If this hasn’t sent chills down the spine, the following piece of information will not let you sleep.

 

According to Hindustan Times, innocent lives were lost in the Gorakhpur BRD Medical college because a private contractor stopped supplying oxygen cylinders over a payment dispute! District Magistrate, Rajeev Rautela told Indian Express, 

“Total 30 deaths in last 48 hours. Supply of liquid oxygen was disrupted yesterday due to pending payment. Requested suppliers not to disrupt supply.”

He also maintained that seven deaths (neo-natal ward 3, AES ward 2 and general ward 2) were reported since last midnight, while the remaining 23 deaths (neo-natal 14, AES 3 and general 6) were reported since midnight of August 9-10, reported TOI.

Earlier, the district administration had refuted the claims, ruling out disrupted oxygen supply. It had also issued a magisterial probe to investigate the cause.

 

Reports also say that supply was stopped by Pushpa Sales, the firm responsible for supplying oxygen after the hospital failed to clear dues of Rs 68 lakhs. Deepankar Sharma of the firm said the BRD authorities were well informed about the disposition. 

This after the initial agreement with the hospital which clearly mentions that arrears would not be more than Rs 10 lakh. As child after child began collapsing, the hospital initiated a transaction of Rs 22 lakh but it was too late.

 

Needless to say, complete chaos has prevailed at the hospital as panic-stricken relatives of patients are running post to pillar for help. Even the doctors on duty are helpless. 

“In monsoon, there are many patients, forced to keep 2 on 1 bed. There’s dearth of doctors.”

Gorakhpur is the Lok Sabha constituency of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the incident comes barely two days after his visit here. While the opposition has started with the blame game, it is imperative that the administration sees it as what is- a callous and irresponsible act that has claimed innocent lives.

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