MYSURU: In just two days, five male and a female baby have died at a major hospital here, triggering panic across many districts that depend on it.
The deaths were reported from the government-run Cheluvamba Hospital on January 17 and 18. On January 14, another such death had taken place. In late November and early December, the hospital had witnessed a drop in admissions, following a similar scare.
As many as 656 newborn babies (303 of them female) have been delivered at Cheluvamba Hospital from January 1 till the noon of January 20. Of them, 37 (13 female) have died.
Facing public and media criticism over the deaths, the hospital has allegedly been turning away many patients.
Referring to the cases on January 17 and 18, Dr Manjunath, resident medical officer, claimed the babies had died before they were brought in. “We call them intrauterine deaths,” he said. “They are caused by low or high BP, and some children die because they are underweight.”
About 120 of every 1,000 children are stillborn or die soon after birth, and the hospital’s record isn’t any worse than the national average, he said. “About 40 to 80 deliveries take place every day and more gynaecologists have to be appointed,” said another doctor who did not wish to be named.
Foetus Found in Commode
A seven-month-old female foetus was found in a commode at Cheluvamba Hospital on Tuesday. Someone had tried to flush it down the toilet. When a staffer went to attend to a leaking commode, he spotted the foetus. He informed doctors, who then called the police. A couple, identified as Roopa and Murthy from Nanjangud taluk, could have tried to dispose of the foetus that way, police said. The couple, however, said they had buried their seven-month-old foetus. The police have sent the one found in the toilet for a postmortem. Roopa is still under treatment at the hospital. Dr Manjunath said the foetus had been flung in the commode on Monday. Hospital staff suspect it was removed from the womb in some other hospital and dumped here. The hospital is checking CCTV footage. Devaraja police said they will investigate the case on the basis of the medical report.
Panels Had Highlighted Sorry State of Affairs
In the wake of maternal deaths last November at both Vani Vilas Hospital in Bengaluru and Cheluvamba Hospital in Mysuru, the state government constituted two committees comprising doctors to look into it.
Ten deaths were reported at Vani Vilas Hospital while 12 deaths were reported at Cheluvamba Hospital, out of which six were at the hospital and six were reported after the patients were moved from Cheluvamba.
Both the reports highlighted the lack of adequate beds, monitors, defibrillators and working ventilators in the ICUs.
The report on Vani Vilas Hospital, prepared by Dr Lepakshi B G, Dr Safiya Shaikh and Dr Nalini G K, suggested remedial measures including round the clock availability of gynaecologists in the ICU under the supervision of an intensivist.
They also recommended obstetrics training for staff nurses posted at the ICU. Other measures included reducing the delay in delivering lab reports, having a blood storage unit, and proper maintenance of record sheets in ICU.
At Cheluvamba Hospital, the inquiry committee said that doctors had expressed doubts regarding the effectiveness and side-effects of the drugs, especially oxytocin, used during the period when the deaths occurred.
The committee also said that no deaths had been reported after the administrators stopped using that particular batch and brand of drugs.
At Cheluvamba, only two nurses were found to be managing both the post-operative ward as well as ICU. In an area sufficient for 14 beds, 28 beds were crammed and the patient load was anywhere between 30-60 per day.
In all the six deaths that occurred at the hospital itself, no autopsy was done to ascertain the exact cause of death, as, in some cases, they did not receive permission from the family. In others, no decision was taken to do so.
What’s Happening?
The hospital is flooded with patients from Myusru, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Hassan and Kodagu districts. It has 410 beds (including 280 for obstetrics and gynaecology cases). The hospital saw a slump in admissions in November and December as some patients left and many were scared by its recent reputation. Only the very poor, who could not afford private hospitals, came to the hospital. Health Department officials alleged many beds remained vacant as doctors refused to attend to women with gynaecological problems.
Doctors Away
Rachaiah, a resident of Kollegal, told Express doctors were referring patients to private hospitals. “The poor are the worst sufferers. Some senior doctors assign work to juniors and devote their time to private practice,” he said. Dr Sudha of Cheluvamba Hospital refuted the charges, and said doctors were going on daily rounds and attending to poor patients. “We need more beds and ventilators in the ICU to handle serious cases,” she said. Another doctor admitted the flow of patients had come down to a trickle after media reports on the infant deaths in November surfaced. But, she said, the beds were full again.