CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: At least 18 deaths were recorded at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here in Maharashtra within 24 hours ending at 8 am on Tuesday, an official said.
This comes against the backdrop of 24 deaths at the Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital in Nanded, also in Marathwada, in 24 hours between September 30 and October 1 and seven more fatalities between October 1 and 2, taking the tally to 31 in 48 hours, according to officials.
"18 deaths were recorded at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar between 8 am on October 2 and 8 am on October 3," the hospital medical superintendent told PTI.
He said out of the 18 deaths recorded at the GMCH, four persons were brought dead.
"Among the 18, two patients died due to heart attack while two others were suffering from pneumonia. Another three deceased patients were suffering from renal failure and another with liver failure. One patient died due to the failure of liver and kidney. One casualty each was reported due to road accident, poisoning, and infection after appendix burst," he said.
The official said two pre-term babies died on the sixth day of treatment (between October 2 and 3) at the hospital.
"They were pre-term babies and weighed only 1,300 grams each," he added.
The official said the facility was not running short on life-saving drugs.
"We are ascertaining which are the last-minute referrals to the GMCH among these cases (18 fatalities)," he added.
He said the facility has the permission for 1,177 beds but anytime more than 1,600 patients remain admitted.
"As this facility is a tertiary care unit, we had nearly 28,000 admissions last month. Out of these admissions, 419 deaths were recorded with us (in September). nThe percentage is 1.45 per cent," he added.
Patients from various districts of the Marathwada region and cities in north Maharashtra visit the GMCH.