BENGALURU: The Karnataka State Human Rights Commission, which has taken up a suo motu case in the deaths of newborns at the Kolar District SNR Hospital, has sought details regarding the deaths and also individual case sheets. Commission chairperson Meera C Saxena visited the hospital on Wednesday and asked hospital authorities to submit details of individual cases. “Doctors said the deaths had occurred due to certain medical conditions. While in one case, underweight was cited as the reason, in the two other cases, they said there were medical complications.
We have asked them to give us individual case sheets. Based on that, we will present our report,” she said. There were allegations that at least 30 infants had died at the hospital in the last 30 days. The hospital authorities, however, refuted these allegations. On Wednesday, when members of the commission visited the hospital, there was no power and the team conducted the inspection in the dark. Saxena said the hospital authorities claimed there was a power cut. “They had a generator but they said it had to be turned off due to overheating. For a hospital, round-the-clock power supply is essential as lives depend on it. We have asked them to keep adequate backup,” she said. The commission has also directed the hospital to have a ventilator facility. “Authorities told us that only third level hospitals are eligible to have ventilators. Considering this is a district hospital, we think it is essential that the facility be provided here as well,” she added.