The Gorakhpur incident, due to the incompetence showcased by the authorities, claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent children, with the authorities blaming lack of oxygen and seasonal encephalitis to shift the blame for the deaths.
Tragically, another incident has come to the fore of this very nature where lack of oxygen and adequate medicine took the lives of 49 innocent children in Ram Manohar Lohia Rajkiya Chikitsalay, Farrukhabad, in the past one month.
City magistrate, Jainendra Kumar Jain, lodged an FIR with the local Kotwali police station stating that a lack of oxygen supply was the suspected reason behind the deaths of the children, when 30 children died in the hospital’s newly born care unit and 19 died during delivery between July 21 and August 20.
Farrukhabad: 49 children died in Ram Manohar Lohia Rajkiya Chikitsalay in a month, allegedly due to oxygen&medicines shortage, probe ordered pic.twitter.com/0SxDacZu7h
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 4, 2017
He had reason to believe so after he talked to the parents of the children who complained that the doctors did not administer oxygen or medicine during treatment.
While lapses on the part of the doctors and hospital staff have been acknowledged by the District Magistrate, Ravindra Kumar, the hospital staff is blaming mortality in children, the children’s weight, premature birth and the delay in arrival in critical condition as the cause of the majority of deaths in the unit.
A doctor who is in-charge of the maternity wing, Dr Archana, went as far as to blame the mothers for the death of 19 infants under her watch and said,
“They (mothers) are not educated, not aware. If their children have water or blood deficiency, they will not know unless the issue becomes complicated. Often they delay the surgery, taking much time in deciding if they should go for it.”
Dr Akhilesh Agarwal, the chief medical superintendent of the hospital, justified that the conditions of majority of the infants was already grim when they were brought in at the unit meant for the newborns, as they were born at a private hospital or some other place.
A probe has been ordered into the incident by Prashant Trivedi, Principal Secretary, health and family welfare and the District Magistrate, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and the Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS) have been transferred from the hospital.
Dimaag mein Oxygen ki kami ki wajah se birth asphyxia ban jaata hai, dimaag mein sujan aa jaati hai, uss bimaari se mare hain: Dr. Kailash pic.twitter.com/9Ex31UO224
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 4, 2017
Dr. Kailash has also issued a statement saying that the deaths are a result of asphyxia, which can happen to a child during birth which leads to the brain not receiving enough oxygen, and ultimately death.
The rate at which children have died is appalling to say the least and the authorities are too busy evading responsibility to take the appropriate preventive measures. Is shifting the blame more important than innocent children succumbing to death?