Deaths due to comorbidities not mock drill: Panel gives clean chit to Paras Hospital, Agra

Published On 2021-06-19 04:45 GMT   |   Update On 2022-12-07 06:57 GMT

Agra: In a major relief to Paras Hospital, Agra, the Government probe panel has given a clean chit to the facility that was sealed after an alleged mock drill incident surfaced, wherein, the owner of the hospital is seen in a purported video talking about cutting off oxygen supply of Covid-19 patients for five minutes to find out "who will die"However, the government inquiry found the...

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Agra: In a major relief to Paras Hospital, Agra, the Government probe panel has given a clean chit to the facility that was sealed after an alleged mock drill incident surfaced, wherein, the owner of the hospital is seen in a purported video talking about cutting off oxygen supply of Covid-19 patients for five minutes to find out "who will die"

However, the government inquiry found the hospital guilty of spreading fake information when the Covid-19 wave was at its peak.

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that Uttar Pradesh Government had cancelled the license of Shri Paras Hospital and sealed the facility after a video of its owner went viral in which he is purportedly talking of "mock drill" and admitting that he had on April 26 got the oxygen supply of critical patients stopped for five minutes as an "experiment to know who all are going to survive". At one point in the video, he was seen saying that 22 patients "turned blue" and gasped for breath when their oxygen supply was interrupted.

However, Dr. Arinjay Jain, the owner of Agra's Paras Hospital, who was at the centre of a controversy, had said that news reports of 22 deaths were baseless and he was ready to cooperate with any investigation. Following which the District Magistrate of Agra Prabhu N Singh and the Uttar Pradesh Health Department initiated a probe into the matter.

Also Read: UP: Paras Hospital Sealed After Viral Video Shows Owner Claiming He Cut Oxygen Supply In Mock Drill

A government committee was set up to probe the incident. The probe found that 10 complaints and memorandums from three social organisations had been submitted against the hospital which merited setting up of the death audit.

The panel comprising a four-member death audit committee and two investigating officers, constituted by the Agra district administration, concluded that the hospital neither conducted any such 'mock drill' over oxygen supply nor did 22 people die on that day.

As per various media accounts, after a thorough probe, the investigating officers found that in total, 16 patients died at the hospital between 26 and 27 April. Among the deceased, seven were Covid-positive, seven were Covid suspected cases and two were Covid-negative. It was also seen that the deaths were caused "due to the severe stage of their disease and other comorbidities" and not due to lack of oxygen supply by the hospital administration.

The investigation report of the committee further stated that six of these patients were already suffering from comorbidities like diabetes while 6 others had other comorbidities like hypertension and coronary artery disease. Comorbidities like pre-existing liver disease and high blood pressure were spotted in the other two patients and only two patients didn't have any such comorbidities. All these 16 patients were provided critical care following the appropriate COVID protocols. The patients were kept on oxygen support either via oxygen mask, bipap machine, or a ventilator, reports The Print.
"On the basis of all the evidence by the investigating officer and the death audit team, it was found that the oxygen of any patients was not stopped. Adequate oxygen gas has been supplied to the hospital on the said day. Patients died due to the severe stage of their disease and other comorbidities, " the report read.
However, the panel found the hospital guilty of spreading fake information when the Covid-19 wave was at its peak and charged the hospital management for violating the Disaster Management Act 2005, and Section 118 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and Section 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code for "taking the decision to discharge patients citing lack of oxygen when the epidemic was at its peak".
Meanwhile, the report submitted by the panel quoted Shri Paras hospital owner Dr Arinjay Jain as saying, "The above propaganda is misleading otherwise there should have been 22 deaths on 26-04-2021 at 07.00 am. Oxygen was available in the hospital, but there was likely to be a problem of supply shortage."

He added that the video, which he believed was recorded at around 5-6 pm on 28 April, was published to create a "criminal conspiracy sensation".

"The doctor submitted before the committee that some words in the video were not his and the video had been circulated to create sensation and that it was part of a criminal conspiracy. The video was also used to blackmail him, " the report added.

However, the report stated that the counter allegation by the owner of the hospital will be probed separately by the police along with the role of a media person in the case.

The police will now reportedly make a detailed investigation into the origin of the video, the people present in it and the reason behind not making the whole video public at once. The committee will also listen to the whole video once it is found.

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Article Source : with inputs

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