GUWAHATI: Two senior doctors were among five staff members of the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) suspended by the Assam government for the death of a four-day-old infant at the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit on 18 August.
The five, doctors Anupama Deka and Deepankar Hazarika, nurses Gomati Devi and Chandana Nath, and ICU technician Ishanjyoti Talukdar – were suspended for six months.
In a letter to GMCH authorities, the state’s Medical Education and Research Department expressed the government’s displeasure and issued directions to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.
The newborn allegedly died after a fall from a phototherapy bed at the neonatal intensive care unit. Born to Smita Deka of Guwahati’s Noonmati area, the infant had been admitted to the hospital for treatment of jaundice.
The hospital authorities had ordered a probe into the incident. The police also conducted a separate investigation after an FIR was lodged by the infant’s father.
The incident had triggered outrage. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had then warned that strong action would be taken if negligence or dereliction of duty was the reason behind this “unfortunate and painful incident.”
This was the first such incident at the GMCH since its establishment in 1960.