Another newborn baby was bitten by a rat at Indore, Madhya Pradesh’s government-run Maharaja Yashwantrao Hospital (MYH) died. Meanwhile, the administration termed the blood infection as the cause of the death, ruling out a rat bite as the cause. The baby died on Wednesday, following which the body was handed over to the family without a post-mortem as per the wish of her relatives, a senior hospital official said.
Earlier, another newborn bitten by a rat died at the hospital on Tuesday. Amid the uproar over the death of two newborn girls after an alleged rat attack, the decision not to conduct an autopsy raised questions.
So far, action has been taken against nearly half a dozen staffers of the hospital, affiliated to the Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College in Indore, and a show cause notice has been issued to the paediatric surgery department's head for alleged negligence, officials said.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav stated that he had spoken to the health minister, principal secretary of the health department, and Indore District Magistrate, and directed them to take appropriate action. The government will not tolerate any kind of negligence in the field of public health and medicine, he warned.
MYH Deputy Superintendent Dr Jitendra Verma said the newborn girl, who had been recently attacked by rats and died during treatment on Wednesday, weighed only 1.60 kg and suffered from various congenital deformities, including intestinal deformity. She was operated upon at MYH seven days ago, and her condition was critical due to 'septicemia', or blood infection, which claimed her life, he said.
As per her family's wish, the body was handed over to them without conducting an autopsy, the doctor added. The girl had been bitten by rats on two fingers of her left hand, causing mild scratches, Dr Verma said.
District Magistrate Ashish Singh visited the nearly 75-year-old hospital, which is among the largest government medical facilities in the state. In view of the rat problem, there will be a third-party audit of the hospital, and further steps will be taken on the basis of its report, Singh said.
An autopsy was conducted in the Tuesday’s death case of a baby girl at MYH. Officials said both girls were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the department related to the surgery of newborns, and suffered from different congenital deformities. Before the post-mortem report came in of the newborn girl who died on Tuesday, the college's Dean, Dr Arvind Ghanghoria, said doctors treating her prima facie felt she died due to pneumonia.
Statement of MYH -
"The post-mortem report revealed heart vessel problems, septicemia, and infection. All these problems were present in her before she was bitten by rats. Both newborn girls were suffering from different congenital deformities, and their condition was already critical. The deaths of these girls during treatment should not be linked to rat bites, because it is generally observed that no human being dies due to rat bites," said the MYH Superintendent, Dr Ashok Yadav, on Wednesday.
2 nurses suspended -
Following the preliminary report into the rat bite incidents, two nurses were suspended by the hospital on Tuesday, and the hospital's nursing superintendent was removed from the post, officials said. Another MYH official said Dr Brajesh Lahoti, head of the paediatric surgery department, was issued a show cause notice on Wednesday for allegedly committing gross negligence in the discharge of his duties.
An assistant superintendent-cum-building in-charge and an in-charge nursing officer of the MYH were suspended, he said.
Letter issued, fine imposed on contractor -
A warning letter was also issued to a private contractor firm associated with MYH, and a fine of Rs 1 lakh was imposed on it. The firm is paid Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.5 crore per month for providing personnel for cleaning, security, pest control, and data entry, Dr Yadav informed.
Asked about the rationale behind paying such a huge amount of government money to the company and allegations of corruption, the MYH superintendent assured, "We will get a detailed audit done by a third party to check whether this firm has done its work properly. If any irregularity is found, its contract will be cancelled.''
Amulya Nidhi, associated with the NGO 'Jan Swasthya Abhiyan Madhya Pradesh', said the organisation has written to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, demanding an independent inquiry into the death of the two girls, citing the rat bites as a gross negligence.
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