Eight die in Nellore Government hospital, kin allege oxygen shortage

Vijayawada: The accusations against the Nellore government general hospital have been brought after eight patients died on Saturday, allegedly due to oxygen shortage. The relatives of the deceased claimed that the hospital failed to provide their kin with proper medical attention.  

Fingers have been pointed out at the hospital authorities for alleged gross negligence after the relatives of the deceased accused them of lack of oxygen at the hospital which resulted in their death within the next nine hours.  

The shocking incident prompted the relatives to stage a demonstration outside the hospital alleging medical negligence by the hospital staff. Angered over the loss of losing their close ones, they demanded justice for their death and looted the hospital property as an act of revolt. 

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According to the hospital records, among the eight patients, six were admitted to the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) of the hospital. Following the incident, the relatives claimed that the hospital staff neglected their kin's treatment which resulted in their death. 

Denying the accusations, the hospital management said that it was not the lack of oxygen that caused the patients to die, but rather a variety of health issues since there is enough oxygen available throughout the facility.

Talking about this to TOI, Hospital Superintendent Dr Siddha Naik informed, "The patients had various health issues and hailed from different parts of the district. The deaths were due to serious illnesses and were natural occurrences. No one from the same area died on the same day. However, a committee will be constituted to investigate the incident. If the allegations are found to be true, stringent action will be taken against the officials concerned.”

In addition, the superintendent submitted a thorough report to the district collector as part of the investigation. A lack of oxygen was not cited as a possible cause of the deaths in the superintendent's report. Several health factors contributed to the patient's death, according to the report.

Apart from this, the relatives also complained about the dead bodies being transferred in a funeral service van instead of sending them in ambulances separately.

In response to this, the superintendent said, “This is part of the regular process where bodies are moved to different places through Mahaprasthanam vehicles. It is not true that all bodies were transported in one vehicle."

Presently, no police complaints have been filed by the relatives of the deceased. An investigation from the hospital's side is under process. 

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