Karnataka: 3 ICU patients die due to power outage at VIMS, Govt orders probe

Ballari: Following a power outage at the government-run hospital in Karnataka's Bellari, three patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) allegedly died. Vijayanagara Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) authorities denied the allegation, and the government has ordered an investigation.

The patients have been identified as 45-years-old Maula Hussain, 38-year-old Chittemma, and Manoj. The hospital had no electricity between 6 a.m to 10 a.m on September 14.

Maula Hussein was admitted to the hospital because he suffered from kidney issues, whereas Chettemma was a snake-bite victim. Manoj was hospitalized on September 6, and he was shifted to the ICU on September 13 after his health started to improve. On September 13 at night, there was a power cut following the next day that the electricity was gone again.

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One of them reportedly died at 9.30 a.m. and the other at 9.35 a.m. Due to the power cut, the ventilators stopped working, and the generator was also not working at the hospital.

"Again in the morning, there was a power cut around 6.15 am, and there was no power till 11.30 am. Doctors gave us a balloon and asked us to press it. Two of us took turns and kept pressing the balloon. After that, they told us that his condition is stable now," said Manoj's brother.

He further added, "Amid this, two others who were in the beds next to us died. Even though my brother was dead, they asked us to shift to a different hospital. After that, they didn't allow us inside. There was no power. That's the reason he died. Since there was no electricity and oxygen, he died."

Without a ventilator, the patients couldn't survive long and unfortunately died. The entire situation was captured in a video by Manoj's brother. He then informed the district in charge of the video, but the issue was suppressed. Later he contacted India Today and revealed the matter in detail.

"I confronted the district in charge, minister Sriramulu, with the video. He refused to comment and evaded my question. He was reluctant to answer my question and was running away from the mic. Before I showed him the video of my family, he was answering all our questions," said Manoj's brother.

Fingers were pointed at the hospital authorities for the alleged negligence, and they dismissed the allegations stating that the deaths were unrelated to the power cut. In response to the allegations, Deputy Commissioner Pavan Kumar Malapati told TH "As per information provided by VIMS Director, both deaths were unrelated to a power cut. The hospital said that both patients were in critical condition with severe ailments and died naturally despite the doctors' best efforts. The power cut could be a coincidence."

Denying all the allegations, he said that the patient died of internal bleeding due to a venomous snake bite, and the other patient suffered from bladder failure for several days and eventually died of natural causes of multi-organ infection.

It was stated by Mr. Malapati that the two patients died of purely natural causes, and the hospital had no responsibility for their deaths. There was an alternative arrangement for power supply when a power outage occurred at VIMS, according to Mr. Malapati.

"There were some issues about the power supply and the power generator at VIMS, and we are trying to fix them. Hope, we will do it shortly," he added.

The District Commissioner had also denied the allegation by saying that the video of the incident was old and the power outage was fixed at the hospital as well as the generator.

After the incident was discussed at the assembly, the electricity department alleged that there was no power cut as per their records. "There was no interruption in power supply through our feeder line. The hospital premises had broken the cable themselves. That should be maintained by the hospital. There has been no power cut on the record," they said.

Taking note of the incident, a team of five doctors has been formed by the Karnataka government to probe the ICU death of the three patients at VIMS hospital.

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