After death of 15 newborn infants at Murshidabad Hospital in three days, probe ordered

Murshidabad: In a shocking incident that has sparked public outrage in the district, at least 15 newborn infants have died in the last three days at Murshidabad Medical College Hospital, Berhampore prompting the government authorities to launch an investigation into the tragic case.

A four-member committee has been formed by the West Bengal Health Department to probe the matter and submit a detailed report based on its findings at the medical college hospital. 

A delegation of two members, Dr BK Patra and Dr Arijit Bhowmick came to the medical college on Friday itself. Two more members Dr Asim Das Malakar and Dr Pompa Chakraborty arrived at the Medical College on Saturday. They met with the MSVP of Medical College, Principal Dr Amit Dan and District Chief Health Officer Dr Sandeep Sanyal as per news 18 reports. 

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According to Millennium Post reports, the deaths occurred between Wednesday and Friday. Preliminary investigation suggests that the cause behind their deaths is mostly due to malnutrition and very low birth weight. 

Out of the 15 infants, four of them had congenital problems, one was brain dead and another one was suffering from a heart disease. Seven of the children who died were aged between one and four days. The others were within nine months of age. The remaining two babies were transferred from a private hospital in Jharkhand who died on Friday night.

Speaking about the demise of these two infants, a source from the hospital told Indian express "The two children were under treatment at a private hospital in Jharkhand. As their condition deteriorated, they were shifted to Murshidabad Medical College. Both died in the hospital late Friday night."

It has been revealed that among the 10 infants who had previously died, three were delivered at the hospital while the remaining seven were transferred from other medical facilities including SNCU (Special Newborn Care Unit) at Jangipur Sub-Divisional Hospital for treatment. 

Talking about this, Dr Bholanath Aich, a paediatrician at the Murshidabad Medical College said "The children had multiple health issues like congenital problems and undernourishment. Some of the children who died were underweight and had pneumonia. They weighed around 400-600 grams. They were referred to the hospital at the last minute."

In response to the sudden deaths of the infants, the hospital authorities claimed that the sudden influx of patients put immense strain on the already overloaded medical college which contributed to the unfortunate deaths.

"PWD's work is going on at the Jangipur Subdivision Hospital. So, patients from there were shifted here. Hence, the number of patients increased here. All the children who were brought here were already underweight. They died," Professor Amit Dan, Principal of the Murshidabad Medical College Hospital told ANI.

"It was difficult to save them as it already took 5-6 hours to bring them to this hospital. We are constituting a team to probe this," he added.

The medical college principal also expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and acknowledged the need for a thorough investigation.

The state health department has also issued a statement assuring that necessary measures will be taken to prevent such tragedies from happening again. “We have already taken necessary action. We will be able to identify the cause of the deaths only after getting the report,” said a senior health department official.

Amit Kumar Dah, the Medical Superintendent cum Vice Principal of the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital, told NDTV "If you don't treat such patients in the first four to five hours then it gets difficult to save them. Children weighing 800 gms or 1 kg can still be saved but saving a child weighing 500 gm is a huge challenge."

He said that they have just 130 beds for the 300 patients they are treating as they are also admitting patients from other districts. "We have to admit all patients on humanitarian grounds," he said, adding that they have also saved about 900 children.

Further details are awaited.

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